Sanaa: Saudi-led air strikes struck military and civilian airports here on Saturday, destroying the runways, after peace talks in Geneva collapsed.
An airport official told Xinhua news agency that the air strikes destroyed the runways of the civilian Sanaa International Airport and its adjacent al-Dailamy air force base at midnight.
“It seems it would be difficult for Houthi representatives to go back home next Monday and land here after failing to strike a truce in Geneva talks,” an official said.
Residents near the airports said they heard fighter jets hovering above before six powerful explosions rocked the whole area.
The airports were under control of Shia Houthi militia since September when they seized the capital by force.
They advanced to the south in March and forced Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh.
The air raids also killed at least 10 Houthis.
The warplanes pounded elite military camps controlled by the forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa.
In the country’s second largest city of Aden, residents said at least two air strikes hit a Houthi gathering on Saturday.
Representatives of Hadi and Houthi group traded accusations, saying the other rejected to reach a truce.
The exiled government has demanded Houthi to implement the UN resolution to withdraw from the cities and hand over weapons they took from the army in return for permanent truce, while Houthis said they will pull out from Aden and Taiz when the coalition agree to halt air strikes for 15 days.
The outcome of the primary talks disappointed millions of Yemeni who were expecting for an end to the war.