Coalition strikes air base used by Al Houthis

Cairo/Aden - The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it attacked Sana’a International Airport and an adjoining air base being used by the Iran-backed Al Houthi insurgents, as the two warring sides also clashed further west in the country’s main port city.

The violence broke out days after renewed US calls for a ceasefire in the three-and-half-year war that the Saudi-backed government suggested it was ready to support.

Al Houthi forces were using the air base in the capital to launch drone and ballistic missile attacks, a coalition spokesman told Saudi state Al Ekhbaria TV on Friday.

Flights and international aid efforts were not affected, Colonel Turki Al Maliki said.

Al Masirah TV, which is controlled by Al Houthis, said more than 30 air strikes targeted Al Dulaimi Air Base in Sana’a and the surrounding areas.

In the port of Hodeida, fighting broke out early on Friday in a southern district, residents and military sources said.

The coalition had massed thousands of troops near the city on Wednesday, in a move to pressure the Al Houthis to return to UN-sponsored peace talks.

The sources in Hodeida said fighting was heard in areas near the airport and the university, and Apache helicopters were spotted in the sky.

Forces loyal to the Saudi-backed government have said coalition strikes were intensified on Thursday night on Al Houthi bases near the eastern entrance to the port city, which is a gateway to the capital, and in its southern part.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies have been fighting since March 2015 against Al Houthis, who drove the country’s internationally recognised government into exile in 2014.

The militia controls much of north Yemen, including the capital Sana’a.

The war has devastated the country’s infrastructure and driven much of its population to the brink of famine.