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Saudi airstrikes against Yemen a first

The new Saudi king has united the Arabs against the Houthis, with Qatar and Egypt now on the same side.
An arms depot explodes at the Jabal Hadeed military compound in Yemen's southern port city of Aden March 28, 2015. Explosions rocked Aden's largest arms depot on Saturday, sending flames and smoke into the sky above the southern Yemeni city, witnesses said. A Reuters correspondent saw fire and explosions at the Jabal Hadeed compound, which is close to residential and commercial properties. There was no immediate word of casualties. REUTERS/Nabeel Quaiti      TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY      - RTR4V93W
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SANAA, Yemen — On March 25, tribal gunmen loyal to Yemen's Houthis, along with Yemeni military forces, tightened their siege on the southern city of Aden, which President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi declared as a temporary capital after he fled there from Sanaa more than six weeks ago.

Two weeks earlier, Houthi gunmen, in conjunction with some Yemeni army units, conducted a military exercise in Saada province on Saudi Arabia's southern border. These Houthi activities may have been the direct cause of the largest-ever bombing campaign against Yemen, which has not fought a war with another country in 80 years. Ongoing internal wars, however, have torn Yemen apart — including the current one between Hadi's forces and the Houthis; al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the army; and the six wars between 2004 and 2009 in Saada between the Houthis and the government. Yet, March 26 was a defining moment in Yemen’s modern history, as Sanaa residents woke up to the sounds of continuing airstrikes.

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