saudi arabia. they have supported different groups at different times in yemen, including for the former leader and now the president. observers say it is a battle for regional supremacy between saudi arabia, and iran that is playing out in yemen. omar we talked about this earlier, saying how syria had once been thought of as the proxy battle. now it's turned out that it's yemen. >> yes, absolutely. and that is what happened in yemen, worried the saudis to a large extend. you have saudi arabia borders yemen. there's a massive border with them. north of yemen, it is on the south of saudi arabia. on the other side of the border there is a minority shia population. for the saudis to have an iranian backed group on the border, this is a recipe for disaster. that's why, i think, the saudis took action. some accused them of being late because yemen is under control of the houthis. most parts of the countries were under their control. they are close to controlling aden for the attacks. yes, saudi arabia w

saudi arabia. saudi arabia is trying to ensure that anything that is a threat in the future is damaged and destroyed. that is why the target right now are weapon storages and the headquarters of the military to ensure that their future is not harmed by these weapons. >> is there any indication if these air strikes are simply a few sorties being flown or this is just the start of what is a prolonged air campaign, which could lead to further military escalation? >> i'll be honest with you, right now we don't know. hundreds of explosions, heavy, massive explosions have been heard over the last 15 minutes. so we can't leave the house, but we can call our officials and from what we're hearing, there's been a lot of damage, but we can only see the reality in the morning. >> okay. hakim, i guess we'll leave it there. hakim there giving us the picture from the ground which is not a good one at this point. thank you, hakim. >> thank you, john. >>> we'll take short break. when we come back, we're learning ab

arabia and take saudi territories and saudi soldiers and achieve even small victories against the saudis. remember one thing since 2006 the houthi rebels when they were small in number they fought six wars with the yemeni army which was supported by the saudis and the americans and they won all of these wars. and they came and top. and so they have stamina. the saudis don't have the stamina. saudi army has never gone to war and won a single war. they have not done that before. so they don't that experience. the houthis do have that experience. >> sir, thank you so much -- >> thank you. >> thank you for your insight. there there director of the institute for gulf affairs speaking to us from washington. >>> now, if you have just joined us we have rolling coverage on the yemen crisis just to get you up-to-date. we have seen a saudi led coalition that has begun a military operation in generally overnight with air strikes against the houthi rebels who have over run the country. now, sarah is a political analyst and spoke to us a little earlier from the capital sanaa. >> there is shellings. fi

that's why we're sending a delegation to saudi arabia. >> pakistan and saudi arabia have long military ties. they carry out joint exercises and there are 800 pakistani troops stationed in saudi arabia protects the border with iran. this is a strong economic relationship as well. last year saudi gave pakistan $1.5 billion in aid. and pakistan's prime minister lived in exile in riyadh for almost eight years. >> entering the conflict in yemen is a difficult balancing act for pakistan. while it has solid relationships with saudi arabia, its a ties with iran. iran and pakistan share a long border and trade with each other. and the government in islamabad does not want to treat tension withs shared community. >> 20% of its population is shia shia. >> because the at of the shias in pakistan would be that pakistan is siding with the sunnies in yemen and in saudi arabia. >> some say that the sectarian violence could not get worse than it all right--already is. >> we have been descented with mercenaries creating sectarian problems in pakistan. it doesn't make a difference. we would live are it.

which is saudi arabia's closest ally. i tried to get an update on where we are on the negotiations and the impact of the situation, the escalation in yemen a short time ago when the head of iran's nuclear agency came for a walk on the lake. i asked a number of questions. >> are you confident today as you head back to talks. >> we are always confident. we are always confident. >> reporter: do you worry the bombing taking place in yemen, could that be a factor in all of this? >> i have no remarks on all of this, that's left to our foreign minister to say something. >> in terms of the nuclear deal are you getting closer. >> we are trying our bet. >> thank you, thank you for your time. >> so the nuclear deal that is it still being discussed here in lausanne, what is the current situation on that because we have got five full days of negotiation left before the deadline 31 march, the end of 31 of march is the deadline to reach the deal. both sides are positive. you heard what the head of the nuclear agency said to me and the u

are the victims of what appears to be the deadliest saudi-led air strikes so far. this was a camp in yemen's north, for those fleeing the violence that gripped yemen for a decade and houthis say women and children are among the dead but witnesses say many of those killed were fighters and saudi arabia is adamant the houthis are to blame. >> houthis moved their weapons and fighters where we have civilians and we do our best to prevent civilian casualties and reply to a source of fire we have no confirmation this was a refugee camp. >> reporter: saudi-led air strikes hit nine of yemen prove province provinces including the capitol sanaa and restrict the target and military base and weapons storage facility that belongs to the yemen republican guard. the focus is not just on houthi strongholds but also on protecting the port city of aiden. it's the main base of president haidi supporters and air strikes in the south targeting convoys of row enforcement and what they say are command centers like this one. coalition forces control the skies, navel forces are moving to b

the saudis have deployed thousands of soldiers along the border they share with yemen but saudi officials continue to say there is no plan to send troops, at least for now. >> we have attacks of some concentration of force for the militias, but there is no major land operation. >> the saudi led airstrikes seem to be weakening outy fighters who have started to retreat from areas in the south according to local sources. tribesmen are on the move to re recapture areas in the east. >> the price would have been higher. it came at a suitable and critical time and through expert military men. >> the arab league summit in egypt has been dominated by yemen's deteriorateing situation. the saudi around think allies say that the airstrikes will continue until former president ali abdullah saleh release their areas. and that abd rabbuh mansur hadi is their legitimate leader. >> pakistan is it is telling all of their citizens to leave the country. it is the only non-arab country to join the saudi-led coalition in yemen. but there is concern that islamabad's role will only increase secretary sectarian t

maybe hopefully saudi arabia we're talking to saudi arabia about thinking twice to invade into yemen. but we could add ministerial support and intelligence and the like but nothing more at there point. >> what about the danger for the united states? the yemeni government was helping the u.s. out with the drone program to go after al qaeda in the arabian peninsula based in yemen and by all accounts is the most dangerous arm of al qaeda at least when it comes to threatening the west. >> it is, the only upside is the houthis are sworn enemies to al qaeda as well. they have used the eastern part of yemen they've stayed away, a large country austere place lots of open desert. difficult for us to striking in unless we know what we're hitting but there's not a lot the united states is going to do there. >> do you think it's more likely that al qaeda will be able to operate freely in yemen? >> they will have more space and time, a chance to regroup themselves. they are fundamentally contained there we're keeping an eye but we won't be able to strike. >> we do have the base in djibouti, can we

saudi led g.c.c. coalition has began a military operation in yemen air strike start he hadding houthi fighters. there is more support coming from the 10-nation coalition egypt, jordan, sudan, ma rack owe and pakistan have expressed their willingness to join the fight. several key places including the presidential palace and police headquarters have been hit. houthi tv in yemen says at least 10 people are are dead and there are reports of dozens of

saudi led g.c.c. coalition has began a military operation in yemen air strike start he hadding houthi fighters. there is more support coming from the 10-nation coalition egypt, jordan, sudan, ma rack owe and pakistan have expressed their willingness to join the fight. several key places including the presidential palace and police headquarters have been hit. houthi tv in yemen says at least 10 people are are dead and there are reports of dozens of casualties. well, it was the saudi ambassador to washington who announced the strikes and he wouldn't specify the extent of u.s. cooperation, the u.s. has revealed it's providing the saudis with logistical and intelligence support. but the saudi air strikes come as a critical time for the u.s. as it continues its negotiation with his iran. here is more. >> reporter: the saudi embassy in washington, d.c. was the venue chosen the audi ambassador refused to reveal what specifically his country was trying to achieve. >> the choice sim simple. abide by the proces

and if saudi airplanes start falling and saudi soldiers start being captured and saudi territory are taken by yemenis then what, then you are going to have a larger war and another negotiation between two or three countries. >> okay, ali al ahmed once again, thank you very much for speaking with us. let's go back to somer in washington d.c a yemeni analyst and researcher. we heard the previous speaker say he thought there should be neutral talks. you told me a few days ago you thought there should be genuine dialogue but within yemen how optimistic are you that such a dialogue can happen now? >> i'm not that optimistic. as we have seen, things have escalated very, very quickly. first from the houthi side when they expanded and pushed president hadi out they took from the government of taiz and ta'izz and surrounded aden and took that area. now it seems that the houthis have decided to respond to this expansion by trying to hinder the movements of the houthis. the only problem here is that i don't believe that all peaceful means of negotiation have been exhausted. i think this was rus

>> under attack, a saudi arabia coalition launches airstrikes against houti rebels in yemen. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters endo has. also coming up, last minute talks in switzerland to try to reach a deal on iran's nuclear program. we will be live in lausanne with the latest. >> new reports that one of the pilots of the germanwings plane was locked out of the cockpit before the jet crashed in the french alps. plus. >> i'm in the oil rich niger delta. nigerians are voting in the election soon. how has the fall in oil prices affected ordinary people. we'll tell you what they say. >> we begin in yemen where a sawed led coalition started airstrikes against houti rebels. sources tell al jazeera the strikes destroyed iranian-made missile launchers in sanna which may pose to threat to saudi arabia. the saudi government is forming a coalition of 10 countries including five gulf monarchies in the gulf corporations council, as well as egypt pakistan sudan jordan and morocco. it is to support the president. saudi says it has destroyed air defenses and hit targets

and the saudis. that debate will go on for some time not least because even though it seems a long way away in november next year there'll be a presidential election and foreign policy will be front and center. and what president obama does over the next 2-3 months, weeks, could have an impact on that election further down the line >>> alan fisher speaking from washington d.c. joining us here on set is our correspondent omar al saleh, who has covered the yemen crisis intensively. let's talk about the members of this saudi arabia-led coalition against the houthi rebels in yemen, what do you make of the members, and why would they join the coalition. ? >> it's interesting. it's understandable that five of six g.c.c. members are taking parts to repeat them. saudi arabia kuwait and others. there are five members. jordan and others are willing or considering to send troops. >> this is interesting for a number of reasons, there has been a while, a talk of the u.a.e. and egypt of forming an arab force, an a

>>> the kingdom of saudi arabia lane offed military actions in yemen. >> saudi arabia launches an air offensive in yemen trying to stop advancing rebels and keep the government in power. locked out? new reports tonight that one of the pilots was locked outside the cockpit when german wings flight 9525 went down. charged with did he percent. army certainly bowe bergdahl formerly accused of abandoning his post in afghanistan. >>> good evening, i am antonia mora, this is al jazerra america. tonight saudi arabia and its gulf allies is launch ago offense enough yemen and the u.s. is lending sport. mike viqueira joins us now from washington. >> miming, how much of a role do we know the u.s. is playing? >> reporter: well, there is late-breaking news on that front. it's certainly a dramatic escalation and a volatile part of the world. and though, antonio the u.s. isn't joining in these strikes strikes that are led by saudi arabia and 10 other gulf nations, the united states is lending its full support. the sound of bombs filling the night skies over the yemeni capital of sanaa that evening. t

the saudi ambassador to the u.s. says military action was the country's final option. >> objective is to defend the legitimate government of president hadi from the takeover attempts by the houthi militias in yemen. the use of force is always the last resort. and it is with great reluctance that we took the step along with our partners in the gcc countries, scas long as outsidef the gcc countries. >> a journalist is in sanaa where he says explosions have been rattling the city. listen to this. >> reporter: started off with that massive explosion that shook all the houses sanaa. each person who heard the explosion thought that the explosion was next to his own residence. whale it was -- covered the entire 40 kilometers of sanaa. this happened in other areas. and yemens are worried -- yemenis are worried that in the long term where should they go to evacuate the families of sanaa. >> a member of the houthis' political wing has fiery words for saudi arabia. you see them here on the screen. he tells cnn "this is a clear

saudi arabia for eight years. while it has a strong relationship with saudi arabia it also has good ties with iran which has backed yemen's houthi fighters. iran and pakistan share a long border and share trade with each other. pakistan is a majority sunni country however 20% of its population are shia muslims. >> it could lead to sectarian tension in pakistan because the perceptions of the shias in pakistan is that pakistan is siding with the sunnies in yemen and in saudi arabia. >> reporter: some say the sectarian violence can't get any worse than it already is. >> yemen or no yemen we have been beset with mercenaries creating sectarian problems in pakistan. so it doesn't make a differential to us. we've lived with it. >> reporter: pakistan hasn't sent fighter jets or extra troops to saudi arabia yet but behind the scenes it's deeply concerned. nicole johnston, al jazeera islamabad. >> mike lions says the fight in pakistan has big implications for the region. >> this is classic proxy war what we thought would de

president mansour hadi is now in saudi arabia, he's recognized by the saudi-led co collision and world powers as the legitimate yemen leddy. arab nations are now proposing a unified military force to face growing regional threats. the saudi-led intervention in yemen is being seen as a message against iran's inning clueing influence in the region but for yemenis caught in the conflict. hopes of a peaceful solution are dwindling, gerald tan, al jazerra. >> mo happen he had is a professor at teheran university, joining me now from the iranian capital. how do you think they will take this on? what options are open to them? >> i think the world should be looking at saudi arabia and i think much of the world is. they are behaving like the israeli regime which slaughtered innocent people in gaza. the saudis are doing the same thing using shaw and awe tactics in yemen and using the same excuse that the israeli regime would use in gaza, saying that the iranians are hiding there somewhere. this is, of course, an old tactic that has been used. but just as the israelis face defeat in gaza and in l

exposed with saudi arabia acting directly in yemen and iran in iraq. not wanting to lead from the front, now it's up to various region ale powers to take matters in their own hands perhaps with the support of the united states as we've seen in yemen, as egypt hopes to do in libya, as perhaps turkey might do in syria or iran has done in iraq. once again what we see now is an entire region being plunged into violence, chaos instability and basically civil wars. are more military solutions a joint military force the answer to all of this, of course not. is this the answer to the cause of the arab spring, of arab people to took over the squares of the arab streets years ago asking for justice security, freedom, liberty and development? of course not. so once again we've seen limited answers to complex questions with lots of slogans and lip service to the needs of every day arab. >> you can read more at aljazeera.com. our senior political analyst live in london. we'll speak to a military analyst about this jointly arab military forced proposed by the arab l

we are aware that the coalition that the saudis have put together and our support for the saudis and the coalition has been clear. of course we are supporting the overall effort. >> the bottom line of the statement that was issued by the white house it says that they will undertake that's what the state itself, if it chained before the military action. >> no, it didn't -- >> well, it came after the announcement by saudi authorities. any questions on the same top snuck. >> a couple more. >> did this come up on the sidelines of the iran talks today. >> so the secretary had as i mentioned at the start secretary kerry and secretary met with the iranian counter parts and then following that meeting the secretary met one on one with iranian foreign ministers. secretary kerry did briefly raise yemen with his iranian counter part. but let me stress this was not and is not the focus of the talks. the focus remained squarely our end of the international communities concern over the nuclear program. >> fair enough. can you give us just a sense of the gist of the secretary's brief inter vince on

a saudi led intervention is seen as a message. for yemeni's caught in the conflict hopes are dwindling >>> the arab league is among those supporting the saudi led air strikes. egypt publicly stated its support and participation. the military action was announced in a joint statement. bahrain, kuwait and qatar. jordan egypt and more okayo have been involved in the strikes. saddan says air and ground forces take part. turkey says it may provide logistical support. pakistan is sending military officials to saudi arabia to discuss what if any support islamabad can provide. nicole johnson is in the capital. >> saudi arabia requested that the pakistani government help it against its war in the fight against yemen. pakistan released a statement saying anything that threatened the integrity from saudi arabia will evoke a response from pakistan. friday they are sending a delegation from the army and the government to saudi arabia to discuss what assistance if any, the pakistan could provide to saudi arabia. the two countries have a good an

i -- i remembered tom and his rule about not dating any saudis or meeting any saudis. but i felt that he had lived in the uk. he was educated. so then i just thought, well, you know, it should be safe enough. it should be okay. >> oh, hey. >> hi. >> he was a typical saudi man. i wouldn't say i was overly taken by him, you know, the way i had been with fred. but i just wanted to go and meet somebody and talk to them and, you know, i was really lonely. if i had known then what i know now, i would never have done it. i met the next day. we went to the coffee shop. he was very westernized. he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. >> how do you do? nice to meet you. have a seat. >> he spoke about how he wanted to leave saudi arabia and live in the west, that you had a much better life there. he could be who he was. so, you know, from that i didn't feel that i was in any danger whatsoever from him. after coffee, he went back to my compound. had sex, and he left after two hours. i was never going to have a relationship with him, you know. i didn't want a relationship with him. and

this has irked saudi arabia, the saudis have supported different groups, including the former leader sal lee and now hadi. observers say it's a battle for regional see sue prem identity see between saudi arabia and iran that is now playing out in yemen. >>> the white house press secretary spoke about the situation in yemen before this aways announced. >> the united states believe that his president hadi is the legitimate leader of yemen. and we have seen violentest on parts of the houthis and other acting in concert with president saleh to ferment instability inside that country. there are elements of the yemeni government that we are in touch with that continue to further our effort to his a spry pleasure to extremist that his operate in that country. we have the capability because of the relationships we have in the region we have the capability to take out extremist fist they are posing a threat to the united states. >>> let's now go to alan fischer who joins us live now from washington, d.c. and alan, as we can see there the u.s. coming to the aid of their arab ally i saudi arabi

saudis needed to escalate to ensure that the houthis cannot attack saudi arabia. saudi arabia is insistent of being involved and the houthis threatened numerous times that if saudi attack yemen, or funds hardy militarily the houthis will invade saudi arabia one way tore the other. >> we talk about the houthis surrounding the air base. this is a ramping up of the tension on the ground in yemen. is the intention to press on further south to aden and to surround the president, president hardy of course. he is holed up there. >> there's no more use in aden. you control aden. abd-rabbu mansour hadi cannot do anything. it is a main strategic stronghold. the houthis can attack aden and get abd-rabbu mansour hadi within hours. i doubt they'd do that only because it's useless now, and abd-rabbu mansour hadi is powerless. forces numbering in the thousands were not able to secure the only air base. the houthis can attack abd-rabbu mansour hadi in aden through the air base within two minutes. the strikes would not take more than two minutes. abd-rabbu mansour hadi would not b

claimed responsibility and he is in saudi arabia and recognized by the saudi-led coalition and world powers as the legitimate elected leaders and has been endorsed by nations with a unified military force to face growing growing regional threats. this is seen as a message against iran's increasing influence in the region but for the people caught in the conflict hopes of a peaceful solution are dwindling, gerald tan with al jazeera. >>> arab league are supporting air strikes on yemen and egypt stated support and participation in offensive, military action was announced in a joint statement signed by saudi arabia and kuwait andicka shaktar and they say air and ground forces will take part in the operation and turkey said it will provide support. they will go to sub to see what support islamabad can provide and we are in the pakistan capitol. >> reporter: saudi arabia requested the pakistan government help in the war against houthi fighters inside yemen. pakistan has released a statement, it says that anything that threatens the integrity of saudi arabia will evoke a strong response fr

the saudi ambassador to the u.s. announced the campaign last night in washington. >> we will do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate government of yemen from falling and from facing any dangers from outside militia. >> woodruff: the strikes flattened a number of homes, killing at least 18 civilians. residents were left searching through piles of rubble for survivors. jonathan bartolozzi of mercy corps is in sanaa, and spoke with the newshour via skype. >> people were woken up by explosions. when people found out that it was actually a formal military intervention, people were quite shocked. we had a situation where the military targets that they were aiming for were quite specific >> woodruff: thousands of houthi supporters took to the streets of sanaa, protesting the saudi air strikes. but at a separate rally in the southern city of taiz, scores of yemenis cheered the action. the saudis are joined in the effort by other persian gulf nations, as well as sudan, jordan, and egypt. those nations back yem

saudi arabia launches airstrikes against rebels in yemen. protests then break out in the streets of yemen. now there are reports of highly sensitive documents getting into the wrong hands. we'll tell you what is at stake

saudi describes houthi command centers like this one. coalition forces control the skies, naval forces moving to block yemen's ports in a bid to stop rebel fighters from rearming. tehran denies it is backing the houthis but yemen is continuing to make accusations. >> there are a number of iranian revolutionary guards that were operating before on the ground. they recently started operating more in the open. there are many advisors supported by iran, mercenaries some from lebanon syria and other places all operating under the guidance of iran. >> the coalition says its military campaign will continue until houthi fighters and soldiers loyal to deposed president ali abdullah saleh join talks to oh find political situation. >> just a moment ago or couple of minutes ago i spoke to pablo marco with doctor without borders. the air strike he confirmed at a camp so lets just listen to what he said and then we'll talk about it. >> we don't have any sufficient staff but we have what the victims have told us and authorities in the different camps a

because saudi arabia introduced new anti-terror laws. they are being applied to extremists, but also to civil rights activists. and then some have been very careful about showing their faces when they speak openly. this activists wants us to distort her voice so she can't be recognized. she says you can be accused of terrorism for simply writing a tweet. two activists were brought before an antiterrorism court for driving a car. she says the law is so wide reaching than almost anyone can be accused of terrorism and that it is a danger for human rights. 1000 lashes and 10 years' im prisonment was the sentence handed down to blogger raif badawi. in saudi arabia the call for freedom of expression is fairly seen as a threat to national security. the activists goes on to say that people must be allowed to speak and become politically active. or one day they will turn to guns. there's no other solution. religion and politics are closely linked in saudi arabia. the royal family supports a very strict interpretation of islam. in return, spiritua

i think that's definitely what scared saudi arabia off having said that a lot of the sites that saudi arabia is targeting now are in fact military bases that are part of yemen's official national military sites. what i'm worried about is after all these air strikes, of course besides the casualties that might result out of this, out of all these air strikes would yemen's military infrastructure be entirely destroyed? that's really scary considering that we have several publish yation onmilitias onthe ground in yemen. and al qaeda in the arabian peninsula on the ground. with the houthis the main enemy of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, if they are significantly weaker, what does this mean to yemen? >> could this potential attack just add fuel to the fire there? >> absolutely. just hearing people's responses today, it is the middle of the night, everybody is scared and terrified and everybody on the ground knows this is definitely unnecessary for the time being. it is definitely shock, it is scary, we also don't know how effective it's going to be in limiting the influence of the hou

>> saudi arabia takes yemen seriously. it's a national coalition, and in my understanding, saudi arabia will take what is necessary to control the situation in yemen. saudi arabia to give them some credits, they have tried diplomatically two times so far. one is with an invitation for talks in riyadh and was rejected by the houthis. >> what the houthis said that that initiative was not sincere, asking them to come to riyadh to talk. >> you are right. nor that reason there was a second initiative the u.n. initiative. is for a dialogue, and that was rejected by the houthis. the houthis marched on the ground towards aden. crossing the red lines for saudi arabia and tried to control the area. so for that reason saudi arabia was left with only one option is to respond, so that was expected and saudi arabia was warning about this intervention. however, i don't think, you know, a military solution will be there for this conflict. eventually parties will have to settle on negotiations and have to talk. the houthis, in this case wi

let's start with the ongoing saudi-lead military strikes. do you think they can achieve their objective of defeating the houthis? >> well certainly the primary on yektive for the time being, which is destroying their air defenses and military bases and some of their concentration of troops have succeeded simply because saudi arabia and its allies have air superiority. and so that's superiority was able to put a certain end, if you will to the advance of the houthis and their total control of the southern city of aden because if they did, then the entire country would have probably fallen in their hands, and that would have left the saudis with zero influence and with the iranians with 100% influence. so for the time being what the saudis have succeeded to do is to turn things around. in this favor of iran and in favor of saudi arabia their allies and what they call the legitimate government, which it is the legitimate government in yemen, which is -- you know, the president hadi and his -- his government. so in a way, you know, things have g

having said that, the saudis saudis, --ed saudi-led air strikes are attacking military air bases and trying to destroy whatever is leftover of the yemeni military infrastructure on the ground. the houthis are a militia and so even if they destroy the military the militia of the houthi will continue to exist. and in all of their activity at thises on the ground in yemen they have pushed south not using any of the navy bases however they remember expanding using their forces on the ground and just traditional alliances with local forces. so it's possible that if they are angered enough they'll try to age saudi back and kind of retaliate. of the from their narrative it seems that they are very angry and they want to seek revenge and that's not yemen's best interests. >> good to talk to you he writes on her blog, check it out. >>> saudi arabia is the world's largest oil exporter, but some investors feel yemeni unrest could have a negative impact on oil production. >> yemen sits along the key strategic route for crude oil and gas trans support. houthis run most of the north including the

supporting saudi arabia. >> it is a long and complicated relationship really, and we have saudi arabia is a rich, conservative monarchy and on the other side, we have yemen, which is very populous, very poor, and it is republican. in those two are separated by a border of about 1500 miles which is very difficult to police. i think generally among the gulf monarchies, there's a certain level of apprehension about yemen. partly because it is not like them. and if we look at the relations with saudi arabia, it was created as a state in 1932. within two years of that, there was a war between the saudis and the yemenis, which resulted in the yemen's sitting some ethnically --ceding some territory. her allowed to work on quite generous terms. that led to large numbers of yemenis working in the kingdom and sending remittances back to yemen. in the early 1990's when the saudis did not much like yemen's attitude toward saddam hussein, several hundred thousand yemeni workers were expelled from the kingdom. we also had the north yemeni civil war in the 1960's where we saw the saudis intervening o

the president abd-rabbu mansour hadi is now in saudi arabia, and is recognised by the saudi arabia-led coalition and world powers as the legitimate leader. the alliance has ben doorsed by the nation -- been endorsed by the arab leg nations. the saudi-led intervention is seen in the region. for the yemenis, hopes of a peaceful solution are dwindling >>> the arab league is among those supporting the air strikes. egypt stated its support and participation. the military action was announced in a joined statement signed by saudi arabia bahrain and kuwait. jordan egypt and morocco say their planes have been involved in strikes. saddan said air and ground forces will take part. and turkey says it may provide logistical support. the pakistan government is sending a high level delegation including military officials to saudi arabia. let's get more from nicole johnson, joining us from islamabad. we know that pakistan has support for saudi arabia's military operation. in what way. well so far saudi arabia has requested support from pakistan. pakistan said that it will consider that request. it he

people filled the streets waving saudi flags to celebrate the saudi operation. and saudi arabia says it wants to reverse the houthi coup and restore yemen's deposed government. the gulf cooperation council says there is no plans for ground forces at this moment. but egypt said it was prepared to send in ground troops if necessary. the saudis seemed to leave that possibility open. >> we should be ready for all the circumstances. our forces are ready for the different threat. air threat or ground threat. >> the white house says no u.s. forces or involved. but that it was coordinating with the saudis on planning and intelligence. >> we understand the saudis concerns. we understand the threat that they perceive on their border, to which they are responding. so, you know, we are supportive of their efforts to address that. >> iran has supported the houthis with humanitarian aid. saudi arabia claims that backing includes weapons. iran denies that, but either way, it's a battle for influence in the region between sunni saudi arabia and shia iran, which quickly condemne

meanwhile, yemen's president has arrived in the saudi capitol, saudi state television says that he will travel on toshake in egypt for an arab league summit meeting on saturday turkey says it may provide report more from bernard smith who is on the line from istanbul. what it says offering logistical and technical support, bernard what does it mean. >> well, adrian, which was made this comment in response to a question he is given in an interview earlier today. they haven't clarified what that support would be. the only guess really from here at the moment is that it could involve the turkish air force providing support to the saudi air force as it takes part in it's air strikes but that detail oz that what that support would be, of course, we are a lot further away prosecutor the border with yemen. from yemen so further than providing air support it is difficult to say to elaborate on what that might be. >> where does turkey's role in all of this fit into the bee owe politics oif region? as you say it is on the edge of the region, you can hardly call it a part of the middle east, even

saudi owned tv says the saudis plan to use 100 planes and 150,000 soldiers. the operation began wednesday as rebels captured the port city of aden and the air base evacuated by u.s. special forces. there are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of yemen's president, but a senior source says as of wednesday night, he's still inside yemen. >>> okay, everyone. that does it for us. we'll have live reports on these unfolding stories in the coming hours. >> our coverage will continue with rosemary church and errol barnett after a short break. you're watching cnn newsroom. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we're reinventing inhow we do business, so businesses can reinvent the world. from pharmaceuticals to 3d prototyping, biotech to clean energy. whether your business is moving, expanding or just getting started... only new york offers you zero taxes for 10 years with startup ny, business incubators that partner companies with universities, and venture capital funding for high growth industries. see how new york can grow your business and create jobs. visit

and concern of the saudis. they're still able to stage attacks in the southern part of the country and this will continue for quite some time. air strikes are not going to severely undermine the presence of the houthis. they still remain powerful in different parts of the country. >> all right. thank you very much. justin crump is a security intelligence consultant. he made some very good points now. the former president saleh maintained soldiers loyal on the ground to him in the south and the houthis are not now able to use that to their advantage. that limits the effectiveness of the air strike >> no one has an appetite for ground war. the saudis and the egyptians -- ground operations are extremely difficult. there are two options. the coalition has two options. something in aden is possible almost as a show of strength. so something to actually put some troops on the ground might help with more precision air strikes against particularly tactical targets. providing effective support to ground troops is much h

but egypt is also beholden to saudi arabia. saudi has given the country billions of dollars in aid and support, and this is why we're seeing such a strong egyptian show of support for the saudi initiative, natalie. >> egypt has a history of fighting in yemen. now will that affect the decision to send in ground troops today? >> i think a lot of generals here are looking closely at the option of sending ground troops in. egypt fought a bloody war in the '60s akin to their vietnam. they lost many troops in this battle. and what we saw was really something that we would possibly see today. egyptian troops and other troops going into these mountains yars of yemen where they're fighting a force they've been fighting in that area for hundreds of years. they know it very well. and they're very -- they're very -- they're very well at these guerrilla tactics. so it would be a very bloody engagement even today. so egyptian generals are very aware of what happened in the '60s, and they don't want to see a reoccurrence of that today, natali

al jazeera america presents only on al jazeera america ♪ more saudi-led air strikes on houthi positions in yemen, arab leaders vow to continue the fight. ♪ hello you're with al jazeera live from doha also to come counting is underway this nigeria presidential election, the first results expected later on monday. getting closer to a deal on iran's nuclear program and the last round of discussion start in switzerland, plus. >>> i'm in the northern philippines with the tribe and there is excitement here as the tribe welcomes a new arrival. ♪ a saudi-led coalition targeting houthi fighters in yemen for the fifth night and arab league leaders say saudi-led strikes will continue until they withdraw and surrender their weapons and we have more. >> reporter: no let up in this military operation for a fifth consecutive night, the saudi-led coalition has continued to hit saudi-led positions and air strikes continued in other parts of the country and dozens of houthi fighters have been killed and jets have bombed position in the northern province considered the houthi's main base and they depl

. >> let's attack you more into detail of our top story the saudi airstrikes in yemen a saudi led coalition launched strikes against houthi rebels there. we have the latest. >> operation decisive storm started in the early hours of thursday. saudi arabia said it has launched airstrikes against the houthi rebels with the aim of reversing the houthi coo and restoring legitimacy in yemen. >> the choice is very simple there, abide by this process and become legitimate players in yemeni politics, or they will not be -- they will certainly not be allowed to take every the country. >> 100 jets from saudi arabia and the gulf coalition were involved in the airstrikes. the saudis say they have only targeted houthi military positions in strategic locations around the country saying they want to restore yemen's deposed government. the united arab emirates, qatar have sent fighter jets to saudi arabia. several hours into the bombing the u.s. revealed its role in the together. it announced the creation of a joint planning cell with the saudis to word u.s. military and intelligence support. the u.s. said

now it's time to show who saudi arabia and what saudi arabia is. >> okay and what is saudi arabia as far as this war is concerned. how far are they going to go. what's the end game here? >> the end game is to obey security council resolution to obey the arab leagues resolutions, to return back to the negotiating table, to get out of sanaa, and to get back what they stole from the legitimate process. >> are the houthis to be involved in the process, the houthis in the past said offers to host talks in your country were insincere. >> well they would take themselves out of the equation, and if they do that they insist on being part of the problem, not the solution and only have themselves to blame in the case and iran of course. >> thank you very much for talking to us. thank you. >>> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in the city of luzan to meet with his iranian counter part. they tried to reach a deal on how to limit the programme by the march 31st deadline. the framework is laid out to reduce the nuclear capability in return for easing sanctions. our diplomatic editor james bays

saudi arabia accuses iran of fomenting the unrest in yemen. it has launched a military campaign against the houthis, a 10-member coalition, including five gulf states and other sunni-lead nations. the houthis are opposed by armed groups including al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, and the houthis appear to be collaborating with forces still loyal to the former president, ali abdullah saleh. >> they depend very much on the support of the military. it's not clear just how long this is going to continue. i suspect that some of their aims are divergent at this point. >> reporter: the battle lines are anything but clear, but there are strong signs that yemen is descending into civil war with several competing states and armed groups now involved in the crisis. >> we're joined by a professor of middle east history in doha. there is a bit of a power struggle -- regional power struggle that is part of this dimension, and it's about saudi arabia, and other countries feeling that iran is encroaching on the country. >> i think there is a feeling among th

saudi arabia is investigating the report. and elsewhere the strikes hit several provinces, including the stronghold of sanaa. there has been battles in aden between the houthis and pro-government forces. saudi arabia has completed a blockade of sport. kim vinnell reports. >> these are the victims of what appears to be the deadliest saudi arabia-led air strikes so far. this was a camp in the north, for those fleeing the violence that gripped yemen for a decade. women and children are among the dead. witnesses say many killed were fighters and saudi arabia is adamant that houthis were to blame. >> houthis moved to areas where there are civilians, we do our best to prevent civilian casualties, we reply to fire. we have no confirmation this was a refugee camp. >>> saudi arabia-led air strikes hit nine of yemen's province including the capital sanaa. air strikes lit up the sky. the target was a military base and weapons storage facility. it belonged to the yemeni guard. the focus is not just on the houthi strongholds, but protecti

who thought we would see yemenis holding pictures of a saudi king. loyalties are being redefined. >> alight is already there. in iraq, we see a chunk of iraqi people thinking iran is the savior and huge chunk of iraq people aligning with other forces. we have seen it in lebanon and syria but this is unprecedented when we compare it to what happened in these other countries, unprecedented action taken by the saudis and their allies in the gulf and now we have seen egypt expressing not only to contribute aircraft, but also ground troops and air and sea force so it's unprecedented. i think it's a huge success we haven't seen in a long time. >> we see this beyond the arab world. we had messages of support, with he heard from turkey, there's a comment from pakistan saying it's looking into the possibility or to a request for it to join military activity. however could this go? >> exactly exactly. remember that these countries these are majority sunni countries and we are facing a situation where, you know, a group that is supported by iran has taken over

>> it is going to create problems for the saudi-led coalition and stoke anti-saudi sentiment among people in in the northern part of the country. the yemeni foreign minister said that. he laid the blame on the outies saying that they have been moving fighters from that area, and was spotted by the saudis and launched a airstrike targeting them. some of those fighters managed to flee inside the camp. that's the reason why we have a high number of casualties. they're reporting non-stop and there is definitely going to create problems for the saudi-led coalition. >> hashem, it's the fifth day of airstrikes against houthies in yemen. the saudis are putting a good spin on it, they're manageing to defeat and push back the houthies. how successful have these airstrikes been? >> well, the saudis have made some specific targets. they say the top priority for the time being, the first phase of their military intervention is to destroy the military capabilities for houthies and forces loyal to ali abdullah saleh. they want to destroy warplanes long-range missile launchers and they say to a great ext