Saudi warplanes destroy Yemen's airports after Geneva talks collapsed

Saudi-led air strikes struck military and civilian airports in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Saturday, destroying the runways, after five-day peace talks in Geneva collapsed, officials and residents said.

An airport official told Xinhua that the air strikes destroyed the runways of the civilian Sanaa international airport and its adjacent al-Dailamy air force base in northern Sanaa at midnight.

"It seems it would be difficult for Houthi representatives to go back home next Monday and land here after failing to strike a truce in Geneva talks," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Residents near the airports said they heard fighter jets hovering above before six powerful explosions rocked the whole area.

The airports were under control of Shiite Houthi militia since September when they seized the capital by force. They advanced to the south in March and forced Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government ministers to seek refuge in the neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh.

The air raids also killed at least 10 Houthis in their stronghold in northern province of Saada bordering Saudi Arabia. Houthi media also reported air strikes on Saturday morning on the village of the group leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, but did not elaborate on casualties.

The warplanes pounded elite military camps controlled by the forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, according to witnesses.

The Saudi-led Arab collation has been waging a daily air campaign against Houthi group and Saleh forces since late March at the request of the exiled Yemeni government to restore its authority.

Meanwhile, ground battles between the Houthis and pro-Hadi fighters raged in the southern cities of Aden and Taiz.

In the country's second largest city of Aden, residents said at least two air strikes hit a Houthi gathering on Saturday morning.

Local officials and witnesses said Houthi fighters fired Katyusha rockets on Saturday morning against their opponents in Aden's districts of al-Mansoura, Dar Saad and al-Tikania. Civilians were killed in the fighting.

In Taiz, conflicts left a woman and a child killed, according to medics and residents.

Ground battles intensified in the provinces of al-Bayda, Ibb, al-Jouf and Marib, as well as the Red Sea port city of al-Hodayda, as the five-day Geneva talks concluded without reaching a cease-fire.

Representatives of Hadi and Houthi group traded accusations, saying the other rejected to reach a truce. The exiled government has demanded Houthi to implement the UN resolution to withdraw from the cities and hand over weapons they took from the army in return for permanent truce, while Houthis said they will pull out from Aden and Taiz when the coalition agree to halt air strikes for 15 days.

The outcome of the primary talks disappointed millions of Yemeni who were expecting for an end to the war.

"This is disappointing news. We will continue suffering from their stupid war and sinking until those corrupted politicians reach a truce," said a Sanaa resident, a taxi driver.

"Those war leaders seek to seize power and money, while 25 million Yemenis are in dire need for peace, food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity," he added.

The capital Sanaa and all other major cities have been cut from electricity, water and fuel supplies for months.

Following the talks, the United Nations appealed for 1.6 billion U.S. dollars to help millions of Yemenis in need of aid, warning of a "looming catastrophe" in the war-torn country.

"The money is needed to address the constantly increasing humanitarian needs in Yemen until the end of 2015," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian agency, said in Geneva.

"More than 21 million people, or 80 percent of the population, are now estimated to be in need of some form of humanitarian aid," he added. Endit