Yemen

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has accused Iran of further aggravating the conflict between Sunniis and Shiites in Yemen.

He insisted that Tehran should immediately retreat its forces from Yemen in order to alleviate the situation, as reported by the Bulgarian National Radio.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Iran on Thursday of trying to dominate the Middle East and said its efforts have begun annoying Ankara, as well as Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab countries.
   

With a few days to go before the deadline of the nuclear talks with Iran, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of forces started to hit rebel positions in Yemen in the early hours of March 26. The move came after a call by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was forced to flee the capital Sanaa last month, losing control of large chunks of the country to the Iran-backed, mainly Shiite Houthi forces.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with Turkish President Tayyip Erdo?an on March 26 about pressing issues in the Middle East, including the crisis in Yemen, the White House said.
   

In an interview with France 24 on March 26, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said Turkey supports the Saudi-led mission to rout Shiite rebels in Yemen and said ground troops will be needed to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq.

A populated area north of Sana’a was hit by Saudi Arabian fighter aircraft, resulting in dozens of victims, according to a Houthi-controlled TV station.

The station urged medical personnel to attend the capital’s hospitals.

Turkey said in a statement on March 26 that it supports Saudi Arabia?s military operation against Huthi rebels in its southern neighbor.

?We support Saudi Arabia?s military operation against the Huthis. We believe this operation will contribute to the prevention of civil war and the strengthening of legitimate state authority in the country,? stated the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Seventeen people could have died so far in Yemen during the offensive of Saudi Arabia and regional allies early on Thursday, AFP reports citing civil defense sources.

Saudi warplanes bombed Huthi rebels in Yemen on March 26, launching a military intervention by a 10-nation coalition to prevent the fall of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
      
The rebels and their allies within the armed forces had been closing in on main southern city Aden where Hadi has been holed up since fleeing the rebel-controlled capital Sanaa last month.

Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, President of Yemen left the country while enemy forces continue rampaging through Yemen.

Shortly before Hadi  was known to have abandoned the country, public sector employees were said to have been told to return home, while many of them had been equipped with weapons.