WARPLANES STRIKE PRESIDENTIAL COMPOUND IN YEMEN'S SANAA

Yemen presidential compleks in Sanaa. (Photo: AA) — **Arab coalition warplanes on Sunday launched a strike against the presidential compound – which is controlled by the Shiite Houthi group – at the center of Yemeni capital Sanaa.** (Photo: AA)

Sanaa, 10 Jumadil Akhir 1436/30 March 2015 (MINA) – Arab coalition warplanes on Sunday launched a strike against the presidential compound – which is controlled by the Shiite Houthi group – at the center of Yemeni capital Sanaa, eyewitnesses have said.

They told The Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting that they saw smokes billowing from the targeted compound.

Anti-aircraft guns fired toward attacking warplanes, one of the eyewitnesses said, adding that he could not immediately assess the damage that happened in the presidential compound as a result of the strike.

Several Arab states have joined a Saudi-led offensive, which kicked off late Wednesday with a string of airstrikes against the positions of the Houthi group in Yemen, including some in capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to calls by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for military intervention to “save the people from the Houthi militias.”

Fractious Yemen has been in turmoil since last September, when the Shiite militants overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country as well.

Some Gulf countries accuse Shiite Iran of supporting the Houthi insurgency. (T/P001/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)