Coalition troops stand at 10,000

JEDDAH: Emirati and Bahraini soldiers who were “martyred” in Yemen will be treated as Saudis “materially and morally,” said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, SPA reported on Tuesday.
He vowed that the blood of “our martyrs will not go in vain,” and added that “the (Saudi-led) coalition will continue its operations with determination to defeat the (Houthi) rebels and their supporters who tampered with the future of the brotherly people of Yemen and who tried to destabilize the region.”
The Iran-backed militia and their allies in the army fired a Soviet-era ballistic missile at an army base in the central province of Maarib on Friday, killing at least 60 Gulf Arab soldiers on Friday.
The alliance has deployed 10,000 troops to Yemen, Qatari news channel Al Jazeera said.
Yemen’s neighbors ramped up airstrikes on Sanaa on Tuesday and hope to launch a decisive assault soon on the city.
“The number of coalition soldiers who have already entered Yemen has risen to 10,000,” Al Jazeera reported.
“A second contingent of Qatari soldiers will arrive today at Yemen after entering Al-Wadee border crossing (with Saudi Arabia) ... as coalition forces have added to their military equipment with 30 Apache helicopters, armored vehicles and rocket launchers,” he added.
A source close to the Qatari military confirmed that Doha was sending “mechanized infantry and armored vehicles” and that Sudan had committed to send 6,000 troops.
“The operation in Sanaa ... will use extensive bombing, air power, to support the ground offensive,” the source added.

Strikes on fuel smugglers kill 20 Indians
Separately, coalition airstrikes on fuel smugglers killed at least 20 Indian nationals at a Yemeni port, fishermen said.
In western Yemen, local residents said planes struck two boats at Al-Khokha, a small port near Hodeidah used by Indians to smuggle fuel supplies into the country, killing 20 of them.
— with input from agencies