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Houthis bomb Saudi-led coalition camp in Yemen, killing dozens

Xinhua, September 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels said they fired a ballistic missile at a camp of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in northeastern Yemen on Friday, killing dozens of soldiers.

The missile was fired early Friday morning and hit a weapon depot at a military airport in Saffer area in Marib province, about 173 km northeast of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the rebels said in a statement carried by state Saba news agency which they have controlled since they stormed Sanaa in September last year.

Residents in Marib said the explosion was powerful as smoke billowed out from the airport for hours.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said 22 of its soldiers in the Saudi-led coalition were killed in the Yemeni province of Marib on Friday, according to the UAE state news agency WAM.

Last week, a large number of UAE and Yemeni troops entered Yemeni border crossing al-Wadee'ah in the southeast province of Hadramout and arrived in the oil-rich central province of Marib.

Officials said all forces are geared up for cleaning Marib from the rebels and advancing to the rebel-held capital Sanaa in weeks.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition has been airstriking on a daily basis the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi group across Yemen since March 26, when President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to the Saudi capital Riyadh to take refuge.

The coalition said its intervention aims to restore Hadi's authority in the country.

The Shiite armed group seized much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa last September, and ousted Hadi and his government. The group said it was a revolution against corrupt officials loyal to Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Over four weeks ago, Hadi's forces, backed by elite troops and armored vehicles from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, launched a number of offensives against the rebels and recaptured five southern provinces, including the sea port city of Aden. Endit