Sanaa - Intense bombing by a Saudi-led coalition hit Yemen again Friday, three weeks into an air war against Iranian-backed rebels, as Al-Qaeda seized more ground in the chaos amid UN calls for peace.
Columns of smoke rose over an arms depot targeted by warplanes east of the capital Sanaa, witnesses said.
The facility belonged to the elite Republican Guard, which remains loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Renegade troops loyal to Saleh are allied with the Huthi rebels, whose sweeping advance forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh last month.
Following heavy overnight air strikes in the north, coalition aircraft also hit the presidential palace in the southern city of Taez, the witnesses said.
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri said that "from this afternoon we have started operations in Taez".
Speaking in Riyadh, he added that there had been 100 sorties in Yemen on Thursday, indicating that there is no end in sight to the operation.
"This works needs patience, persistence and precision. We are not in a hurry... We have the time and we have the capabilities."
Air strikes on the southern port city of Aden killed a rebel, while at least 76 other people died in bombing and fighting around Aden and Taez, officials said.
The United Nations says hundreds of people have died and thousands of families fled their homes in the war, which has also killed six Saudi security personnel in border skirmishes.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire and began the hunt for a new peace envoy to the country, where Al-Qaeda is expanding its territory.
Yemen "is in flames," he said Thursday, calling for an "immediate ceasefire in Yemen by all parties".
His remarks followed the resignation of his envoy Jamal Benomar, who had lost the confidence of Saudi Arabia and its allies. They accused him of being duped by the rebels.
The Moroccan diplomat had been instrumental in negotiating a deal that eased Saleh from office in February 2012 after a year of protests against his three-decade rule.
AFP
