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Saudi-led airstrikes hit airport in Yemen's capital

Xinhua, May 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Fighter jets of the Saudi-led alliance on Monday pounded Yemen's Sanaa international airport in the capital, setting two civilian passenger aircrafts on fire, the airport officials said.

"Two civilian aircrafts were hit and set on fire by Saudi airstrikes in the afternoon," one of the officials told Xinhua.

He said one plane was operated by Yemenia Airways and the other one by Yemeni Felix Airways.

Huge fire and columns of black smoke could be seen rising from the airport in northern Sanaa, according to witnesses.

It was the second airstrike targeting the airport in a week. On April 28, the warplanes destroyed the Sanaa international airport's runway and fuel station to prevent an Iranian plane from landing there.

However, attacks on the airport has halted humanitarian aid shipments to the capital, according to the airport officials.

There was no immediate report of casualties.

Meanwhile, provincial officials said the alliance's jets raided on Monday morning the Houthi gathering in Sarwah area in the central province of Marib, where ground fighting continued between tribal fighters and the Houthis who were trying to control the oil-produce province.

The Saudi-led coalition also attacked Houthi sites and forces led by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern provinces of Ibb and Taiz, said the officials.

No immediate reports of casualties, but residents in Marib, Ibb and Taiz said dozens of Houthis were killed in the airstrikes and by the tribal fighters loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The death toll have reached more than 1,200 since the battles and airstrikes began in late March, and more than 3,000 people were wounded across the country, according to statistics released by the Yemeni government.

Hundreds of thousands of people, especially in the southern regions, were forced to flee their homes.

Saudi Arabia started on March 26 airstrikes against the Houthi group and forces loyal to Saleh who was accused of supporting the Houthis to overthrow Hadi, aiming to reinstate the Yemeni government.

On Sunday, sources said the Saudi-led coalition forces dispatched its first special unit of ground troops to Yemen's southern port city of Aden.

"The first Saudi-led coalition troops arrived in Aden and have engaged in the fighting alongside with tribal militia allied with Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Aden's neighborhood of KhorMaksar," a senior government official based in Aden said on condition of anonymity.

"They are fighting with pro-Hadi militia against the Shiite Houthi gunmen near Aden's international airport at the moment," the government source said.

The number of that Saudi-led ground forces are about 40 to 50, a spokesman of the tribal militia told Xinhua. The soldiers were wearing Yemeni clothes, not army uniforms, witnesses said.

However, Saudi Arabia later denied such reports. Spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition Ahmed al-Asiri said in a statement that "there are no foreign forces in Aden, but the coalition continues to help fight against the Houthi militia.". Endit