The Yemeni army, backed by popular committees, has entered Saudi military bases in the kingdom's southwestern region of Asir. The video footage released by Yemen's al-Masirah television network on Friday showed Yemeni forces advancing into Saudi military bases in the region, destroying the vehicles and equipment of the Saudi army. The Saudi soldiers, who could not resist the Yemeni offensive, fled the area, reports added. The attack was part of Yemen's retaliatory measures against Saudi Arabia over Riyadh's unabated military campaign in the impoverished Arab country. Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia's aerial aggression claimed the lives of 18 civilians from two Yemeni families in Sa'ada Province in the northwest of the war-ridden country. Saudi fighter jets pounded residential areas and a stadium in the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a, killing more than ten people, including several women and children. The airstrikes also targeted a military base in the east and a broadcaster building in the north of the capital, PRESS TV reports. Saudi airborne assaults further struck positions in the central Yemeni province of Ibb, killing and injuring several civilians. The Saudi attacks also left one dead and three others injured in Kamaran island located at the southern end of the Red Sea. Meanwhile, reports say that the areas surrounding the presidential palace in the southwestern province of Ta'izz are the scene of fierce clashes between the Ansarullah fighters of the Houthi movement and militants loyal to Yemen's fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. The foreign-backed militants have so far failed to take control of the palace despite aerial support provided by Saudi warplanes. On March 26, Saudi Arabia began its aggression against Yemen – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh. According to the UN, the conflict has so far left about 4,500 people dead and thousands of others wounded. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.
