Airstrikes cause civilian losses in Yemen

Militants loyal to Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi take their positions in Taiz, Yemen, March 30, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin, who is now in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, blamed the Houthi fighters for an airstrike on the camp, and denied the raid has anything to do with the coalition's operations.

Yaseen told reporters that the explosion on the camp was caused by Houthi fighters' artillery strikes, adding that his government has no contact with the Houthi militias since the start of air strikes late on Wednesday night.  

Also on Monday, military spokesman Brigadier Ahmed Al Asiri told a daily press briefing that Saudi Arabia now has the full control of all of Yemen's sea ports, Al Arabiya news reported.

All arriving and departing ships will be screened under the blockade, said the report.

The maritime move is considered to prevent the Houthis from receiving any kind of manpower and material supplies entering the country from the sea, yet the official source said nothing has been intercepted yet.

The spokesperson also said the Houthis tried to launch a ballistic missile strike from Sanaa against a Saudi center in the border area, but failed due to technical malfunction, adding that the coalition forces rushed to the area and destroyed the site.

The spokesperson said the coalition forces are now focusing on slowing down Houthis' march towards Aden, and destroying all ballistic missiles.

The coalition, headed-by Riyadh, has been trying to restore the rule of Yemeni President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is now in Saudi Arabia and was forced to flee the country by the Houthi group.

The Houthis, the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam, said their actions are to battle against the expansion of Salafism in Yemen, and for the defense of their Shiite community from widespread and systematic discrimination from Hadi's government. In turn, Sanaa accused the militant of intending to overthrow the government to build a Shiite country.

Saudi Arabia has also charged Iran of trying to have a bigger say in the region by financing and arming the Houthi group, while both Tehran and the Shiite group have refuted the claims.