SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Dozens of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit the rebel stronghold Saada in northern Yemen, forcing hundreds of families to flee the area, security officials and Shiite Houthi rebels said Saturday.
The raids come after the Saudi-led coalition ordered civilians in rebel strongholds to flee by nightfall Friday and declared the entire region a “military target.” It warned it will strike anything in the region, even as the Saudis pressed for a ceasefire to begin next week.
Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Ali Asiri, the coalition spokesman, said in a televised press conference that the strikes have targeted multiple buildings belonging to Houthi leadership, weapons stores and rebel encampments in the region bordering Saudi Arabia.
He accused the Houthis of preventing area residents from leaving the area under fire. Several tribal officials said the Houthis were making it difficult for residents to leave by removing petrol from the market and using it instead for their war effort.
Houthi spokesman Hamed al-Bokheiti denied the accusation, and said that on the contrary, the Houthis opened camps in Yemen’s capital Sanaa to receive refugees and those who remain in Saada are people who refused to leave.