CAIRO (Sputnik) – The bombing campaign conducted by Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which was terminated on Tuesday, did not undermine the strength of opposition forces, one of the army commanders loyal to Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
"They did not get to anything in Yemen, except shame. We are eagerly waiting for them to launch a ground operation. But they will not dare to set foot on the land of Yemen," the commander said, adding that the coalition airstrikes did not weaken Houthi forces, but only destroyed infrastructure and civilian neighborhoods.
The commander added that even in the southern port city of Aden, forces loyal to Hadi are only controlling a small neighborhood.
Hadi was forced to resign by Houthis in January. After escaping house arrest, he fled to Aden and withdrew his resignation. After the start of the Saudi-led military campaign at the end of March, Hadi left Yemen for Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition announced that it was terminating its Decisive Storm military operation. Instead, it was launching the Restoring Hope campaign, which will focus on counter-terrorism efforts, humanitarian missions, and the revival of political dialogue in the crisis-hit country, where Houthis, along with forces loyal to Saleh have taken control of several cities, including the capital Sanaa.
