COALITION WARPLANES HIT SALEH HOME IN YEMENI CAPITAL

Ali Abdullah Saleh (Photo: AP)" width="300" height="169" /> Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh (Photo: AP)

Sanaa, 21 Rajab 1436/10 May 2015 (MINA) – Saudi-led coalition on Sunday launched fresh airstrikes on the residence of ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in capital Sanaa after carrying out three strikes on the same location hours earlier.

Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out two strikes on Saleh’s residence in central Sanaa, eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency.

The bombardment of Saleh’s home could be heard in distant areas in the capital and many buildings were rocked as a result, witnesses said.

It is yet to know whether the new airstrikes caused any casualties.

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Earlier Sunday, a security source told Anadolu Agency as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), that coalition fighter jets carried out three strikes targeting Saleh’s home.

The house was damaged as a result on the bombardment and it remains unknown if there has been any casualties, the source said.

A local news agency linked to Saleh, for its part, said that Saudi warplanes launched three airstrikes on the home of the former Yemeni president, which left some neighboring residents with injures, but asserted that Saleh and his family were not harmed.

In a Facebook statement, Saleh said none of his family members were hurt as a result of the strikes, adding that “every Yemeni killed by the [Saudi-led] aggression is a family member of mine.”

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Saleh, a foe-turned-ally for the  Houthi group, went on to urge the coalition to “find a solution that stops the killing and destruction of the Yemeni people…and let us resolve our differences through dialogue.”

Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa, from which they sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.

On March 25, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive military campaign targeting Houthi positions across Yemen.

Riyadh says its air campaign comes in response to appeals by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for military intervention against the Houthis.

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Hadi, who is backed by the Sunni-majority Gulf States, fled to Riyadh in March after Houthi forces attacked his residence in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden. (T/P001/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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