Saudi-led Group Strikes Yemen

A coalition of Middle Eastern forces pounded positions in Yemen from the air overnight in the second day of a campaign to bring a rebel group to its knees, CNN reports.

At least 10 people died in the north-western province of Saada, home to Abdul Malik Al Houthi, the supreme leader of Houthi Shiite insurgents, Houthi commanders said. More than a dozen more people were wounded, as 15 locations saw airstrikes.

But the military action also targeted a weapon storage site for the Houthis in the capital Sanaa, which the rebels overran in an offensive weeks ago. On Wednesday, Houthis captured parts of Yemen’s second-largest city, Aden.

The nations stepping into Yemen’s civil war are predominantly Sunni Muslim, and they are working to rescue a government that has strong Sunni support.

The Houthis are allied with majority Shiite Iran.

Saudi Arabia, the largest contingent in the intervention, considers the Houthis to be proxies for the Shiite government of Iran and fear another Shiite-dominated state in the region.

“What they do not want is an Iranian-run state on their southern border,” CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona said of the Saudis.

The other nations participating in the military action are the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Pakistan and Egypt.

Both Saudi Arabia and Egypt have spoken about the possibility of sending in ground troops.

Saudi Arabia has blockaded the Houthis, effectively cutting off their supply lines.

Saudis strike to defend ‘legitimate government’ of Yemen