SANAA – Saudi-led warplanes have bombed Yemen’s main international airport and struck a renegade troop base in the capital, as Arab leaders vowed to pummel Iranian-backed rebels until they surrender.
The raids on the country’s main air gateway on Sunday came just hours after UN workers were evacuated following deadly fighting that has sent tensions between Tehran and other Middle East powers soaring.
India and Pakistan also moved to airlift their citizens from the chaos-wracked country.
Yemen’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has urged his Arab allies to keep up the bombing until the Huthi Shi’ite rebels are defeated, branding them Iran’s “puppet”.
His Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin said there could be “no negotiations and dialogue” with the rebels “until the legitimate government has control over all Yemeni lands”.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said at a regional summit in Egypt on Sunday the offensive would go on until the rebels “surrender” their weapons and withdraw from areas they seized.
The Huthis and allied renegade military units have overrun much of the country and prompted Mr Hadi to flee what had been his last remaining refuge in the main southern city Aden for Saudi Arabia.
Dozens of people have been killed in clashes in Aden in recent days, dimming prospects of Mr Hadi returning any time soon.
At least 38 people were killed on Sunday in fighting near the oil region of Usaylan in southern Shabwa province after tribesmen attacked rebel positions, security and tribal sources said.
In the capital, witnesses reported hearing three loud explosions and seeing a large fire when Sanaa International Airport was bombed during a fourth night of Saudi-led air raids.
“This was the first time they hit the runway” since the campaign began, an aviation source said.
“The airport is completely out of service.”
A civil aviation official at the airport later told AFP that work to repair the runway had begun.
Overnight air strikes hit the headquarters of the rebel republican guard at Al-Subaha base in Sanaa, killing 15 soldiers, a military official said.
