Raids cripple Yemen''s main airport, kill 15 rebel troops
Sanaa, March 29
Arab coalition warplanes targeting Iran-backed rebels bombed the runway at the Yemeni capital's international airport and killed 15 pro-rebel troops elsewhere in Sanaa, military and aviation sources said today. Meanwhile, India will be airlifting its nationals from strife-torn Yemen after getting permission from authorities to fly from Sanna for three hours a day.
On the fourth night of raids against Shiite rebels and allied troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, Saudi-led strikes paralysed the airport in the rebel-controlled capital.
"This was the first time they hit the runway" since the campaign began, an aviation source said, a day after UN staff were evacuated from Sanaa. "The airport is completely out of service," he said.
Witnesses reported hearing three loud explosions and seeing a large fire when the air facility was hit around midnight.
Meanwhile, overnight air strikes hit the headquarters of the rebel republican guard at Al-Subaha base in Sanaa, killing 15 soldiers, a military official said.
A medic at a military hospital in the capital said it had received 12 bodies and 18 wounded soldiers after the raid.
Air strikes also targeted an airbase in rebel-held Hudaida, in western Yemen, witnesses said, as part of efforts to destroy air defence capabilities.
Other raids targeted a base of the First Artillery Brigade in Saada, the northern stronghold of the Huthi Shiite rebels.
India to airlift its nationals from Yemen
India has secured permission from Yemen authorities to fly from Sanna for three hours a day.
"Today, we got permission to fly from Sanaa for three hours a day. We will use the slot for evacuating our citizens everyday," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said a day after 80 Indians left the city for Djibouti.
According to officials sources, the government will chalk out a schedule for Air India sorties to evacuate the nationals.
Swaraj also tweeted that India was in the process of sending a ship with a capacity of 1,500 passengers.
Yesterday, as many as 80 Indians left Sanaa for Djibouti where Indian mission will assist them in returning home.
The ministry has also set up a 24 hour Control Room to monitor the situation in Yemen where all the airports have been shut down.
There are about 3,500 Indians, most of whom are nurses, in various provinces of Yemen including Sanaa. Yemen is witnessing attacks by Shiite militiamen on the president and other state figures.
Airstrikes to continue until rebels surrender
The Arab league has decided that Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen will continue until Shiite rebels there "withdraw and surrender their weapons". They also agreed in principle to forming a joint military force.
The decision puts it on a path to more aggressively challenge Shiite power Iran, which is backing the Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis.
At the summit, held in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby read a final communique outlining the leaders' views.
"Yemen was on the brink of the abyss, requiring effective Arab and international moves after all means of reaching a peaceful resolution have been exhausted to end the Houthi coup and restore legitimacy," Elaraby said.
Speaking at the summit Saturday, Hadi directly accused Iran of being behind the Houthi offensive, raising the specter of a regional conflict. Iran and the Houthis deny that Tehran arms the rebel movement, though the Islamic Republic has provided humanitarian and other aid.
Asked at a news conference to explain vague references to "foreign powers" being behind conflicts in different Arab nations, Elaraby said: "I will answer this question indirectly. There is meddling by some neighbours, Israel on one side, Turkey and Iranian interference in several countries."
Speaking after Elaraby, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said leaders also agreed in principle to creating a joint Arab military force. He said a high-level panel would work under the supervision of Arab chiefs of staff to work out the structure and mechanism of the force.
Elaraby said the chiefs of staff would meet within a month and have three more months to decide on the structure, budget and mechanism of the force before they present their
proposals to a meeting of the Arab League's Joint Defense Council.
"It is an important resolution given all the unprecedented unrest and threats endured by the Arab world," Elaraby said. — AFP/AP/PTI
