(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Saudi Arabia said yesterday the coalition forces it is leading will not at any cost allow weapons or other supplies to be made to Houthi militiamen in Yemen.
The spokesman for the forces showed videos of air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen yesterday at a press briefing in Riyadh and said the coalition forces had completely destroyed Al Anad military airport, which the rebel militiamen were using.
The spokesman, Brigadier Ahmed Asseri, said that defending the Aden government was the campaign's "main objective."
"I want to confirm that the operation itself has as its main objective to protect the government in Aden," Asseri said.
"The operation will continue as long as there is a need for it to continue," he said.
Morocco said it would join the coalition against the Houthis. Pakistan, named by Saudi Arabia as a partner, said it had made no decision on whether to contribute.
Asseri, an air force pilot, said at the briefing that on the second day of air strikes on Houthi targets yesterday, several roads and bridges used by the militiamen to transport weapons and ballistic missiles to Sana'a and Sada cities were destroyed.
"We are asking Yemeni people to remain away from Houthi militiamen's gatherings and caravans as the coalition is targeting all those areas," Asseri said.
The roads and bridges that were targeted have prevented the movement of Houthi militiamen from the south to the north of Yemen.
"We have total control over the Yemeni airspace and any movement of Houthi militiamen on the ground is being targeted."
Militias in the areas of Yemen bordering Saudi Arabia were attacked by the coalition forces using Apache helicopters, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
"There is no ground movement by the militias on the Saudi-Yemeni border areas now," said the brigadier, who showed videos of how the coalition forces had launched air strikes on Houthi targets yesterday.
No supplies of weapons or any other materials will be allowed to be made to Houthi militiamen, said Asseri.
Meanwhile, embattled President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi arrived in Egypt for talks with Arab allies.
A call for a ceasefire was issued by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, suspected of being allied with the rebels.
Saleh called for "an immediate cessation of military operations by the coalition" and "a simultaneous immediate stop" by the Huthis, as well as a halt to looting of public buildings and army camps.
And he proposed a "resumption of dialogue... under the sponsorship of the United Nations, and its transfer to the United Arab Emirates or a UN building".
The rebels have also clashed with Sunni tribes as they push south. At least 21 were killed yesterday when tribesmen ambushed their vehicles north of Aden.
Houthi fighters and allied army units gained their first foothold on Yemen's Arabian Sea coast by seizing the port of Shaqra 100km east of Aden, residents said.
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