Saudi defense minister supervises airstrike against Houthis’ strongholds

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Thursday 26 Mar 2015 - 10:14 Makkah mean time-6-6-1436 Briefing on military plans (SPA/image) Riyadh (IINA) – Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman supervised the first airstrike against the strongholds of Houthi rebels in Yemen, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The state-run agency said the defense minister arrived Wednesday at the Air Force Operations Center to command the “Al-Hazm (Firm) Storm” operation, which launched its airstrike against the Houthis at 12 o'clock midnight, upon the order of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the Supreme Commander of all Military Forces. The airstrike resulted in the complete destruction of all Houthi air defenses, al-Dailami base, SAM missile batteries and four warplanes, without any losses in the Saudi Air Force. The defense minister received, at the operations command center, Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Prince Mohammed bin Naif, and briefed him on the details of the military plans and operations before the start of the airstrike. In a related development, the White House announced earlier Thursday morning that President Obama has approved logistical and intelligence support for the Saudi military operation in Yemen. Obama stressed that the United States strongly condemns the Houthi actions against the legitimate Yemeni government, which triggered wide-scale chaos and instability that seriously threaten the safety and welfare of all Yemenis. US National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan stated that “the United States has been in close contact with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the regional partners”. She added that “in response to the deteriorating security situation, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and their allies have undertaken a military action to defend Saudi Arabia’s borders and to protect the Yemen’s legitimate government. According to the GCC member states, the military action against the Houthi group, is being carried out in response to a request of the internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Hadi. AB/IINA