Saudi Arabia leads air strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels

SANAA/ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Warplanes from Saudi Arabia and Arab allies struck Shi'ite Muslim rebels fighting to oust Yemen's president on Thursday, in a major gamble by the world's top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard without direct military backing from Washington.

Iran denounced the surprise assault on its proteges in the Houthi militia group and made clear Saudi Arabia's deployment of a Sunni coalition against its Shi'ite enemies would complicate efforts to end a conflict that will only inflame the sectarian hatreds already fuelling wars around the Middle East.

But a senior Iranian official ruled out military intervention.

In the capital Sanaa, which Houthi rebels trying to oust the president seized in September, warplanes bombed the main airport and the nearby al Dulaimi military air base, residents said, in an apparent attempt to weaken the Houthis' air power and ability to fire missiles.

A Reuters witness said four or five houses had been damaged. Rescue workers put the death toll from at 13, including a doctor pulled from the rubble of his clinic.

In a day of heavy fighting, warplanes struck Houthi fighters near Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia, tribal and Houthi sources told Reuters.

On the northern outskirts of Aden, Houthis and army loyalists fought extended gun battles with militiamen loyal to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. 13 pro-Houthi fighters and 3 militiamen were killed, the militiamen said.

Fighters loyal to Hadi retook Aden airport, a day after it was captured by forces allied to the Houthis advancing on the city. The facility remains closed and flights are cancelled. Saudi Arabia also cancelled flights to its southern airports.

There was also heavy street fighting in Houta, the capital of Lahj province north of Aden which killed 5 pro-Houthi fighters and 4 militiamen.

Thousands of Houthi supporters gathered to condemn the air strikes at the historic gate to Sanaa?s old city, waving the Houthi banner and chanting, ?Death to America!?

The Saudi intervention marked a major escalation of the Yemen crisis, in which Iran backs the Houthis, and Sunni Muslim monarchies in the Gulf support Hadi and his fellow Sunni loyalists in Yemen's south.

"We will do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate government of Yemen from falling," Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, told a news conference in Washington.

Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the kingdom was contributing 100 warplanes to operation "Storm of Resolve" and more than 85 were provided by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan.

Jordan and Sudan said their forces were involved in the operation. Egyptian air forces were participating, and four naval ships headed to secure the Gulf of Aden.

Pakistan was considering a request to send ground forces.

A Saudi official familiar with defence matters told Reuters that a "land offensive might be needed to restore order."

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate halt to the "aggression and air strikes" in Yemen, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"Military actions in Yemen ... will further complicate the situation," Fars quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as saying.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters: "Iran will use all possible political ways to allay tension in Yemen. Military intervention is not an option for Tehran.?

A United Arab Emirates official expressed Gulf Arab concerns about Iranian influence in Yemen.

"The strategic change in the region benefits Iran and we cannot be silent about the fact that the Houthis carry their banner," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash wrote on Twitter.

Saud al-Sarhan, director of research at King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh: ?It is a clear message on the ?Saudi defence doctrine?. Security and stability in the Arabian Peninsula is a red line, and Saudi Arabia doesn?t tolerate any attempt to destabilize the region."

PRESIDENT "IN HIGH SPIRITS"

Yemen's slide towards civil war has made it a crucial front in Saudi Arabia's rivalry with Tehran, which Riyadh accuses of stirring up sectarian strife throughout the region and in Yemen with its support for the Houthis. Iran publicly denies funding and training the Houthis.

Fighting has spread across Yemen since the Houthis seized Sanaa and forced Hadi out of the capital.

Ambassador Jubeir said the assaults were in response to a request by Hadi.

The White House said it supported the operation and that President Barack Obama had authorized U.S. "logistical and intelligence support". U.S. forces were not involved in direct military action in Yemen, a National Security Council spokeswoman said. France and Britain also backed the operation but the European Union said military action was not a solution.

In Lebanon, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group condemned the strikes.

HOLED UP

Hadi has been holed up Aden with loyalist forces since he fled Houthi custody in February. An aide said Hadi was in the city and was in high spirits.

A Houthi leader said the air strikes would set off a "wide war" in the region.

Houthi-run al-Masirah television said the strikes had hit a residential neighbourhood north of Sanaa and caused dozens of casualties. It urged medical personnel to report to hospitals.

Al-Masirah showed the body of a girl and several of the wounded, including a weeping man who said the strikes had killed his son and destroyed his home.

One witness said: "Why are you hitting Yemeni civilians, women and children?"

No independent verification of casualties was possible.

A widening Yemen conflict could also pose risks for global oil supplies, and Brent crude oil prices surged more than 4 percent on Thursday. Kuwait stepped up security at its oil installations.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Phil Stewart, Patricia Zengerle, Yeganeh Torbati and Sandra Mahle in WASHINGTON, Michelle Nichols at the UNITED NATIONS, Mohammed Mukhashaf in ADEN, Mohammed Ghobari and Noah Browning in DUBAI and Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO; Writing by Noah Browning and William Maclean; Editing by Giles Elgood)