SAUDI and Egyptian warships took up position last night in the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen while a Saudi-led coalition stepped up air strikes against Shi’ite rebels and their allies.

Military officials in Cairo said that the marine deployment was intended to secure the strategic sea passage and to pave the way for ground operations.

The air campaign aims to weaken the rebels and make possible an invasion by coalition troops, probably Egyptians, into the southern port of Aden.

Aden is viewed as a major stronghold of supporters of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, but he fled the city on Thursday when Shi’ite Houthi forces and military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh began advancing on it.

They continued moving through southern Abyan province towards the city yesterday, with the aim of reinforcing their fighters already in Aden.

Street battles broke out in several southern cities yesterday between pro-Hadi military units and rebel forces.

Saudi Arabia and its regional allies aim to push back the Houthi-Saleh forces that have taken over the capital Sanaa and much of the country.

Their ultimate goal is to restore Mr Hadi, who arrived in Egypt from his Saudi bolthole yesterday for an Arab summit today.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said that there was an “arrangement” for ground troops of the Saudi-led coalition to deploy in Yemen.

“It’s a comprehensive military operation,” he told the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel.

After more than 36 hours of air strikes, more than 40 per cent of Yemen’s air defences were destroyed by yesterday afternoon, according to pro-Hadi Brigadier General Saleh al-Subaihi.

Yemeni security officials said that around 80 Houthi-Saleh fighters had been killed in the strikes, along with 18 civilians, including six children, when a block of homes in an impoverished neighbourhood near Sanaa airport was flattened on Thursday.

Defence officials in Washington admitted providing refuelling tankers and surveillance flights for the Saudi operations yesterday and there are several US troops working in the operations centre.

Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir said in Washington that the autocratic regime in Riyadh was “very pleased” with the level of co-ordination with the US.

by Our Foreign Desk