Yemen rebel head vows to defy Saudis

The leader of Yemen's Houthi rebels has vowed to resist a Saudi-led bombing campaign that has been targeting his forces since late March.

In a televised speech, Abdul Malik al-Houthi said Yemenis would never give in to the Saudis' "savage aggression".

Hundreds have died as the rebels and allies battle government supporters, who are backed by the air campaign.

A BBC correspondent in the contested port city of Aden says its hospitals lack the supplies to treat patients.

Meanwhile, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin yesterday rejected Iran's offer to mediate a solution to the crisis in his war-torn country, insisting that Tehran-backed rebels surrender.

"Any mediation effort coming from Iran is unacceptable because Iran is involved in the Yemen issue," Yassin said on the sidelines of an Arab-Turkish economic meeting in Kuwait City.

"Iran has become a major part of the Yemeni crisis and those who are a party to the crisis... cannot become mediators," he said.

Iran has been backing the Shiite Huthi rebels who along with forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have taken control of most of Yemen, prompting air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition to support the government.

The Saudi-led air campaign was launched following a plea from President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after rebels closed in on his refuge in the southern city of Aden. He has since fled to Riyadh.

In a vital show of support for Hadi, the military command of 25,000 troops in Yemen's largest province said they were standing behind the embattled leader.

"The officers, non-commissioned officers and the soldiers of the First Military Region based in Hadramawt back President Hadi, who represents constitutional legitimacy," their chief, General Abdelrahman Al-Halili, said in a statement.

Saudi-led air strikes on a missile depot in Yemen's rebel-held capital yesterday sparked explosions that left at least 18 people dead and 300 wounded, flattening houses and shaking faraway neighbourhoods.

Many more people were feared to have been killed after the two strikes that hit the depot in the Fajj Attan area of Sanaa, which was covered in thick black clouds of smoke.