SANAA, Yemen -- Saudi-led naval forces imposed a blockade on Yemen's ports as coalition airstrikes Monday repelled an advance on the southern port city of Aden by Shiite rebels and forces loyal to a former president.
The move to block ports appeared aimed at preventing the rebels, known as Houthis, from rearming, and comes after the coalition achieved full control of the skies and bombed a number of rebel-held airports. The rebels are supported by Iran, but both Iran and the Houthis deny Tehran has armed them.
As night fell, explosions could be heard throughout the rebel-held capital Sanaa, where warplanes had carried out strikes since the early morning. Military officials from both sides of the conflict said that airstrikes were targeting areas east and south of the third largest city, Taiz, as well as its airport, while naval artillery and airstrikes hit coastal areas east of Aden.
"It's like an earthquake," Sanaa resident Ammar Ahmed said by telephone. "Never in my life have I heard such explosions or heard such raids."
Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, the coalition spokesman, said in Riyadh that naval forces are blocking the movement of ships to prevent weapons and fighters from entering or leaving Yemen. He said they had not yet intercepted anything.
The airstrikes have targeted at least nine of Yemen's 21 provinces and prevented the Houthis from reaching Aden, the former capital of the once-independent south, where President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi declared a temporary capital after fleeing rebel-controlled Sanaa.
Hadi, who was a close U.S. ally against a powerful local al-Qaida affiliate, fled the country last week but remains Yemen's internationally recognized leader. The U.S. has provided support to the Saudi-led coalition but is not carrying out direct military action.
The conflict marks an escalation in the regional struggle for influence between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which also back rival sides in Syria's civil war. Arab leaders unveiled plans Sunday to form a joint military intervention force.
Asiri said much of the airstrikes Sunday and Monday focused on slowing the Houthi advance on Aden. He said the Houthis tried to fire ballistic missiles Monday but that they malfunctioned. Warplanes then struck the force that had tried to launch them, he said.
The Houthis' TV network said the coalition bombed a displaced persons camp in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada, killing 40 people, including women and children.
However, witnesses said the camp is now occupied by Houthi forces and that most of those killed were fighters.
When asked about the allegations, Asiri said the Houthi fighters operate among civilians. It was not immediately possible to resolve the conflicting accounts.
The Houthis and security forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh earlier launched a fresh offensive against Aden but were pushed back by at least two airstrikes, security officials said. Saleh stepped down following a 2011 Arab Spring uprising, but maintained wide influence through loyalists in the security forces.
Yemeni security officials say the combined force of Houthis and Saleh loyalists is positioned about 19 miles east of Aden, near the southern city of Zinjibar. The rebels have used artillery to target pro-Hadi militias known as the Popular Committees. Battles are also underway near the airport. Fighting in the area continued late into the night.
Reached by telephone, Aden resident Shakib Rajah said that the toughest fighting was taking place near the city's northern Dar Saad neighborhood, where heavy weapons including tanks were being used.
The account of the fighting was confirmed by four military and security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Emboldened by the airstrikes, the Popular Committees have largely held their ground in Aden province and still control most of the city.
The death toll from the ground fighting in Aden since Thursday has reached at least 86, with some 600 people wounded, according to Abdel-Nasser al-Wali, head of a local medical center.
A Section on 03/31/2015