Saudi-led campaign Air strikes Yemen's Sanaa, Morocco joins alliance

ADEN  - Yemen's government said Saudi-led airstrikes against its Houthi militia opponents would not last long on the second day of a mainly Gulf Arab campaign against the Iranian-allied militia that risks escalating a regional proxy conflict.
Warplanes targeted Houthi forces controlling Yemen's capital and their northern heartland on Friday and, in a boost for Riyadh, fellow monarchy Morocco said it would join the rapidly-assembled Sunni Muslim coalition against the Shi'ite Muslim group.
But Pakistan, named by Saudi Arabia on Thursday as a partner, said it had made no decision on whether to contribute, although it pledged to defend the kingdom against any threat to its solidarity.
Riyadh’s move is the latest front in a growing regional contest for power with Iran that is also playing out in Syria, where Tehran backs Assad’s government against mainly Sunni rebels, and Iraq, where Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias are playing a major role in fighting.
Sunni monarchies in the Gulf are backing embattled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his fellow Sunnis in the country's south against the Shi'ite advance.


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