An Arab military force on Sunday joined militants loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi fighting against Shia Houthi militants around the airport of Yemen's southern Aden city, local sources have said.
The Arab ground troops arrived earlier Sunday in Aden and joined the clashes around Aden International Airport on Sunday, pro-Hadi militant sources told Anadolu Agency, without providing information on the troop's mode of transportation.
The sources added that the Arab force joined pro-Hadi militants, who've been besieging the airport for days.
"We have been unable to completely take control of the airport, because Houthi militants are barricaded in vital spots," one source said.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel, for its part, quoted Riyadh-led coalition spokesman Ahmed al-Asiri as denying the deployment of any coalition ground troops in Yemen.
Earlier in the day, local sources told Anadolu Agency that some 30 soldiers belonging to the Saudi-led Arab coalition reached the coast of Al-Buraiqeh district in the southern province in Aden on Saturday.
This is the first deployment of Arab ground troops in Yemen since Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies launched a military campaign against positions of the Shiite Houthi group across the country in late March.
Riyadh says the anti-Houthi campaign is in response to appeals by Hadi – currently in Riyadh – for help against the Shia militia.
The Houthis, for their part, denounce the ongoing offensive as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression" on Yemen.
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