Saudi pounds Yemen rebel camps, Arab allies gather

Sanaa: Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed rebel camps in Yemen on Friday in a second straight day of strikes as embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi arrived in Egypt for talks with Arab allies.

A months-long rebellion by Shiite fighters has escalated into a regional conflict that threatens to tear apart the impoverished state at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia has vowed to do "whatever it takes" to prevent the fall of its ally Hadi, accusing Shiite Iran of "aggression" and backing the Huthi rebels' power grab.

At least 39 civilians have been killed in the Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm against the Huthis and their allies, officials at the rebel-controlled health ministry in the capital said.

Twelve died when surrounding residential areas were hit in a raid on a military base north of the city, the officials said.

Three dawn strikes Friday hit the rebel-held presidential compound in south Sanaa, witnesses said. Warplanes also bombed a Huthi-controlled army brigade in Amran province north of Sanaa, and arms depots in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada, residents said.

Hadi, backed by the West and Gulf Arab states, flew into Egypt for a weekend Arab League summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh set to be dominated by Yemen.

He had arrived in Riyadh on Thursday in what was the first confirmation of his whereabouts since the rebels began advancing this week on the main southern city of Aden, where he had taken refuge since fleeing Sanaa in February.

Saudi Arabia says more than 10 countries, including four other Gulf monarchies, have joined the anti-Huthi coalition. The coalition said all members had contributed to the operation today, with UAE warplanes "intensively" participating in the strikes.

Yemen's air space is completely under coalition control, and aircraft seized by the Huthis have been destroyed, spokesman General Ahmed Assiri told reporters in Riyadh.

As explosions rocked Sanaa, those families who have not already fled huddled in fear.

"Whenever a plane flies over our home and is met by anti-aircraft gunfire, my three children run to a corner and start screaming and crying," said Mohammed al-Jabahi, 32.

"We spent a night of non-stop terror and hysteria." An anti-aircraft missile wounded eight people, one seriously, when it exploded in a market in Sanaa, a day after being fired by Huthis, a security official said.