Saudi-led coalition pounds Yemen’s Sanaa

Violent explosions have rocked the northern neighborhoods of Sanaa hours after the Saudi-led military coalition announced it was launching airstrikes on “legitimate” Houthi military targets in the Yemeni capital.

The raids targeted two military sites, residents told Reuters.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV confirmed the attacks that took place early on Tuesday, reporting at least three raids have struck parts of Sanaa.

One attack resulted in a fire breaking out in a plastics factory, while the other attacks have damaged several residential homes, according to the Al Masirah TV report.

There have been no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah resistance movement.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict has killed more than 233,000 people.

The conflict has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned more than 16 million Yemenis are food insecure. The body has also estimated 75 percent of Yemeni children suffer from acute malnutrition.

Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.