(Reuters) – The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen on Saturday set the Iran-aligned group Houthis a three-hour deadline to withdraw weapons from the airport of Sanaa and from two ports on the Red Sea, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported.
Retaining weapons in the Yemeni capital’s airport and the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef would “end their status” as safe regions not to be targeted by coalition air strikes, it said, without saying exactly at what time the deadline would expire.
The coalition said earlier on Saturday it was carrying out air strikes on Sanaa and Hodeidah in reaction to Houthi attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government in late 2014.
The conflict, widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Alexander Smith)
