Saudis launch airstrikes as Yemen rebels advance

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Raw: US Begins Airstrikes in Tikrit, Iraq At Iraq's request, the U.S. began airstrikes in Tikrit on Wednesday in support of a stalled Iraqi ground offensive to retake the city from Islamic State fighters. (March 26)

Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes Wednesday against Houthi rebel positions in Yemen and pledged to protect its neighbor from Iran-backed Shiite militants.

The announcement came after Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi fled by boat earlier in the day as rebels advanced to take the southern port city of Aden, where he had taken refuge.

The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, announced the airstrikes campaign at the Saudi embassy in Washington in a news conference. Both the news conference and the military action were rare moves by the Sunni nation of Saudi Arabia.

The Al-Arabiya network has reported that Saudi Arabia has also deployed 150,000 troops and 100 fighter jets.

Other Arab nations were poised to act as well. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain also said they would answer a request from Hadi "to protect Yemen and his dear people from the aggression of the Houthi militias.'' Oman, the sixth member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, didn't sign the statement.

"We will do whatever it takes to protect the legitimate government of Yemen," the Saudi ambassador said.

Allies loyal to the Houthis — the Shiite rebels who have overtaken the capital Sanaa and a number of other cities — captured Aden's international airport, Yemen security officials said Wednesday.

Jubeir declined to say whether the Saudi campaign involved U.S. intelligence assistance.

Intelligence files held by Yemeni forces containing secret details of U.S. intelligence operations in the country have been taken by rebel leaders, exposing names of informants and U.S. planning, the Los Angeles Times reported from Washington, citing two U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. intelligence officials believe files were handed to Iranian advisers by Yemeni officials who have sided with the Houthi militias, the report said.

Hadi, the country's internationally recognized leader, fled Aden by sea for an undisclosed location Wednesday, officials told the Associated Press. Unidentified warplanes flying over Aden had fired missiles at the neighborhood where Hadi's compound is located, residents told Reuters.

The takeover of the city, which is the nation's economic hub, would mark the collapse of what is left of Hadi's grip on power, the AP reported. Hadi escaped to the port city last month after being held under house arrest by the Houthis in Sanaa.

The Houthis and their allies also claimed to seize an air base that was evacuated by U.S. troops over the weekend. Forces loyal to Hadi had no immediate comment on the claim.

The U.S. — which strongly condemns the violence — will continue to work with Yemeni security forces, but that will be a challenge going forward, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

"We have the ability to continue to apply pressure on the extremists that are seeking to capitalize on the chaos in Yemen to establish a safe haven and plan — and potentially execute — attacks against the West," he said.

In the capital Sanaa, dozens of coffins were lined up as mourners paid their respects at a mass funeral Wednesday for the 137 killed in suicide bombings at two Shiite mosques under rebel control last week.

The rebels seized Sanaa in September and have been advancing south along with forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a fierce Hadi critic. They have offered a $100,000 bounty for Hadi's capture and arrested his defense minister, the AP reported.

Yemen Foreign Minister Riad Yassin called for Arab military intervention against advancing Shiite rebels, telling the Al-Arabiya network that the country has asked Arab countries — especially oil-rich Gulf Sunni countries — to send air and naval forces to counter the rebels.

Hadi's government will not enter into talks with the Houthis until the rebels return to their stronghold in the northern province of Saada, Yassin added.

On Saturday, about 100 American troops and special forces units evacuated the al-Annad air base after al-Qaeda's Yemen branch — considered the terror organization's most dangerous — seized the nearby city of al-Houta. British troops have also evacuated the base. The militants were later pushed out of al-Houta by Yemen's armed forces, BBC reported.

The Al-Masirah news channel reported the Houthis and their allies had "secured" the air base and claimed it had been looted by al-Qaeda fighters and troops loyal to Hadi. The base was crucial in the U.S. drone campaign against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

On Tuesday, Hadi asked the United Nations Security Council to authorize a military intervention "to protect Yemen and to deter the Houthi aggression" against Aden and the rest of the south. In a letter to the council's president, Hadi said he also has asked members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League for immediate help.

Saudi Arabia warned that "if the Houthi coup does not end peacefully, we will take the necessary measures for this crisis to protect the region."

Contributing: David Jackson, Katharine Lackey,