Aden: Fighter jets from the Saudi-led coalition hit Al Houthi positions Saturday as reinforcements reached pro-government forces preparing for an anticipated advance towards the capital, military sources said.
Apache helicopters struck a base occupied by Al Houthi militant forces near Bayhan, in the southern province of Shabwa, hours after fighter jets targeted a convoy of the Iran-backed Al Houthi militants in the area, a military source said.
Fighter jets also targeted arms depots in the Al Houthi-occupied capital Sana’a, according to witnesses.
Bayhan borders the eastern province of Marib, where military reinforcements have arrived from neighbouring Saudi Arabia to bolster forces loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, military sources said.
Armoured vehicles have crossed the Wadia border point in Hadramout province, heading to Marib, where loyalists are preparing a large offensive, a military official told AFP.
The coalition has also deployed eight Apache helicopters that will be based at the Safir oil fields, the official said.
The operation, aimed at driving Al Houthis out of Marib and pushing west towards the capital, will begin in the next few days, the official said requesting anonymity.
Bolstered by coalition air power and newly trained troops, Hadi loyalists have driven Al Houthi militants out of Yemen’s second city Aden and four other southern provinces and are now fighting for control of the third city of Taiz.
In March, Al Houthi militants and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh advanced on Aden, where Hadi had taken refuge after escaping house arrest in Sana’a.
Hadi later fled to Riyadh, which assembled an Arab coalition that mounted a fierce air campaign against the militants.
