SANAA/RIYADH – Loud explosions rocked Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa late Saturday, as the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported renewed Saudi airstrikes on the city.
A Sanaa resident, speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, said warplanes could be heard overhead as powerful blasts echoed across the capital, rattling windows and shaking buildings.
"The blasts were so powerful that the ground shook beneath us," the resident said. "It felt like an earthquake. Our windows were rattling and the children woke up terrified."
Local residents believed that the airstrikes targeted Houthi positions. Casualties were not immediately known.
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Earlier on Saturday, the Houthis said they had launched ballistic missiles and drones at an Aramco facility in the Saudi capital Riyadh in retaliation for what they described as intensified Saudi strikes on Yemen. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said that 60 air and missile strikes had hit Yemen over the previous 24 hours.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen on Saturday described claims by the Houthi group that it had targeted the Saudi capital Riyadh as "misleading," saying they were intended to cover up losses sustained by the group.
Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the human losses suffered by the Houthi group in Yemen's southwestern Taiz province and on other fronts were prompting it to seek "imaginary victories."
He said the claims aimed to divert attention from the group's losses, growing public anger over its practices, and its links to external agendas.
READ MORE: Houthis say 26 Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen as govt forces step up operations
Tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia intensified after the group announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on July 20, followed by an escalation in cross-border missile and drone attacks and airstrikes.
The confrontation widened further in September amid fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces, largely backed by Saudi Arabia. The Houthis captured the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Sept 10 and strategically located Mayyun Island the following day.
Yemen's conflict began in late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
