A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has ended its bombing campaign against rebels in Yemen, Saudi state television has said.

The coalition’s Decisive Storm campaign had achieved its military goals, the report said.

A new operation would be called Restoring Hope, focusing on a political solution in Yemen and on security and counter-terrorism at home.

The coalition had carried out almost a month of strikes but had largely failed to halt the Houthi rebels’ advance.

Yemen has been in chaos since the Houthi, or Zaidi Shia, rebels, took control of the capital, Sanaa, in January and placed President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi under house arrest.

Mr Hadi escaped and took refuge in Aden in February, but left the country at the end of March when the Houthis, backed by army units supporting ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, reached the outskirts of the southern port city.

Saudi coalition spokesman Brig-Gen Ahmed al-Asiri told a press briefing in the Saudi capital, Riyadh on Tuesday: “[The coalition] has ended Operation Decisive Storm based on a request by the Yemeni government and President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.”

Gen Asiri said the campaign would end at midnight and that the rebels no longer posed a threat to civilians.

He said: “Those objectives were achieved by very good planning, very precise execution, by the courage of our pilots, our sailors, our soldiers.”

Gen Asiri said the Restoring Hope campaign would be aimed at rebuilding Yemen while continuing to oppose the rebels.

But the general did not rule out future air strikes.

The Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia has accused Shia-led Iran of backing the Houthis, something Tehran denies.

Fresh air strikes had been carried out on Tuesday, with almost 30 people reported killed, many of them civilians.

At least 20 died when aircraft bombed a convoy of Houthi rebel fighters on a bridge in the western city of Ibb, residents and security sources said. Nine others were killed in the northern city of Haradh, near the Saudi border.

SOURCE:   http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32402688