Saudi warplanes still chasing Yemen’s Houthis

Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition struck Houthi rebel targets in and around the Yemeni cities of Aden and Ibb early on Thursday, residents in the area said, after Riyadh indicated its campaign against the Iran-allied movement would be wound down.

On Tuesday, the coalition announced an end to its month-old bombing campaign in Yemen, but strikes have continued.

Saudi military spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said later that day that “the coalition will continue to prevent the Houthi militias from moving or undertaking any operations inside Yemen.”

Thursday's targets included tanks being used by the Houthis in the villages near Aden, a port in the south, the residents told Reuters.

In Ibb in central Yemen, residents reported an intense series of strikes early on Thursday on Houthi positions and weapon warehouses in the region.

They said targets included a military base in the town of al-Kafr, unspecified sites in Hubaysh, as well as a college on the outskirts of Ibb and another in the city of Yarim.

The deputy governor of Aden, Nayef al-Bakri, told Al Jazeera that an air raid on Wednesday targeted tanks used by the Houthis and their allied forces in the southern port city. Five Houthi militiamen were killed at a checkpoint while fighting against local forces opposed to them, according to Reuters.

The Houthis and their army allies loyal to powerful former President Ali Abdullah Saleh are battling fighters loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

In the province of Dalea, eight Houthi fighters died, also at a checkpoint late on Wednesday. Heavy clashes were continuing in the area, residents said.

Saudi Arabia and allied countries began launching airstrikes on March 26, hoping to push back the rebels, who seized Sanaa in September and overtook large parts of the country with the help of security forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Most of Yemen's military is loyal to Saleh, whose forces are fighting alongside Houthi rebels in battles stretching across the country's south and east.

While not taking direct military action, the U.S. has said it is coordinating military and intelligence support with Saudi Arabia. 

To push back against the Houthis, Saudi-led warplanes targeted military bases and anti-aircraft positions located in populated neighborhoods in Sanaa, flattening homes and killing civilians.

The United Nations last week reported over 750 deaths resulting from the conflict. Thousands more have been wounded in the airstrikes.

The leader of the Iranian-allied rebels accused Saudi Arabia on Sunday of plotting to seize Yemen. Saudi Arabia's goal is “the invasion of this country, its occupation and placing this country again under its feet and hegemony,” Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said.

“It's the right of our people to resist the aggression and face the aggressor by any means,” he added.

Western governments and many Sunni Arab countries say the Houthis get arms from Iran. Iran and the rebels deny that, though the Islamic Republic has provided political and humanitarian support to the group.

Al Jazeera and wire services