talk to al jazeera. sunday, 6:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. saudi-lead forces again bomb houthi forces from the air, with troops on standby for a possible ground deployment. ♪ hello, this is al jazeera live from doha i'm adrian finighan, also on the program, evidence that pilot andreas lubitz was excused from work by a doctor. he lead a coup and then failed to get elected three times, so why is this man trying again to be nigeria's next president?

plus -- >> i'm jonah hull with the story of how war in ukraine is is doing great things for fish farming here in the faroe islands. ♪ there have been further air strikes by saudi-lead forces in yemen targeting shia houthi fighters and their allies. here are the latest developments. jets launched three strikes on the red seacoast city. the northern strong hold was hit on friday as well as key military installations in and around the capitol. elsewhere there are reports that houthi fighters and forces loyal to the former president saleh, have started shelling residential areas just outside of aden. and the 12 houthi fighters and three tribesmen have died in clashes. >> reporter: this is the aftermath of a new round of

saudi-lead air strikes on houthi targets in yemen. this is all that is left after the raid that happened on friday morning, according to witnesses. air defense batteries southwest of sana'a were destroyed. for a second night, the alliance says it hit military positions in the capitol sana'a. and the cities of ta'izz and [ inaudible ]. these military videos appear to show some of the strikes. the location lss seem to include large military depos that have been hit. as the operation continues saudi officials say there is no plan to send troops at least for now. >> we should be ready for all of the circumstances. our forces is ready for the different threat. be it air -- air threat or ground threat. for the time being there is no

such operation, but if need we will be ready to face this kind of threat. the houthis say there have been civilian casualties but despite the on slot the houthis remain defiant. >> translator: what do they expect us to do in surrender? announce our defeat? to about like cowards? what do they expect from us? collapse overnight? to walk away? absolutely not. the interim foreign minister says there is still room for dialogue. >> we're about to prepare for the upcoming conference. the door is still open for dialogue, and what is happening now is preparation for a dialogue of equals when no party can deal with the other from a standpoint of force. >> reporter: yemen has been unstable for years a situation that got worse last september when shia houthi rebels took over the capitol and forced the

president to flee a few months later. the president is now in saudi arabia. he is recognized by the saudi-lead coalition, and the u.s. as the legitimate leader. the alliance has been endorsed by arab league nations who are proposing a unified military force to face growing threats. it is being seen as a message against iran's increasing influence in the region. mohamed vall al jazeera. let's here now from gerald tan which takes a closer look at which nations support the saudi-lead campaign in yemen. >> reporter: the air strikes on houthi positions in yemen began early on thursday. saudi arabia is leading this campaign. it has an estimated 100 fighter jets conducting the air strikes. and 150,000 saudi soldiers are standing by near the yemeni border. the operation is supported by a

brood corigs, four other gulf states have lent air support with additional fighter jets. you see the breakdown here. morocco, jordan and sudan have also contributed. egypt has sent four ships through the red sea to help secure the gulf of aden. this strategic shipping lane is vital in the global oil route. egypt has awls said it will be ready to take part in a ground offensive with sudan and jordan pledging the same. now the united states says it is providing advisory and logistical help but there's no indication still if it will allow saudi planes to use its air base just across a strip of water to the south of yemen. it's unclear how long this air campaign will continue or if ground troops will be deployed and little is known about the military capabilities of the houthis, except that they are a

well organized force that is backed by another regional heavyweight, iran. we're joined by the editor and chief of the yemen post. early evening now there in sana'a. what is the situation? >> right now it's quiet here. hours ago there were air strikes, targeting the military bases -- the weapons store of the houthis. these air strikes were over a dozen, and could be heard every 30 minutes. but right now it's calm in sana'a, and we saw the last two days during the evening it is calm, and in the day, and by nightfall it explodes. >> we spoke 18, 20 hours ago, an air strike was underway. we were talking about how frightened people are there in sana'a.

any evidence that the people have used daylight hours to look for safety? >> oh yeah. many of the families -- or the heads of families are evacuating their children and loved one to two areas, to the outskirts of sana'a or to their place or origin. and [ inaudible ] remain here -- [ inaudible ] families that near military bases or come pounds in sana'a. sana'a is surrounded by military come pounds or base around nine are in sana'a and that's why hundreds if not thousands of families have evacuated. what is happening right now is that there is hope right now, officials in the government have informed me that the u.n. envoy is pushing for dialogue right now, and factions and parties are pushing very hard to resume the political dialogue to ensure that yemen does not continuing to fall into chaos.

we do expect in the next couple of days if not by tonight or tomorrow, a new call for negotiations that will be accepted by the factions of the country, so let's wait until the end of the day today or early tomorrow when the u.n. envoy announces it. >> okay. hakeem good to talk to you again. many thanks indeed. iran has locked in another day of talks on its nuclear bran with u.s. secretary of state john kerry in switzerland. six world powers are trying to convince tehran to limit its nuclear program in return for the easing of sanctions. they have to reach a framework deal by next tuesday, and a final deal needs to be reached by june 30th but events in yemen are also being discussed. iran's foreign minister says that saudi-lead air strikes should stop and he has urged all sides in yemen to start talking. al jazeera has condemned an attack by houthi rebels in its

sana'a news bureau. fighters smashed through the front door. in a statement al jazeera has said that: seven people have died in a blast in the somali capitol. police say the casualties may rise and that there may be hostages. al-shabab gunmen have claimed responsibility. an explosion and gunfire was heard at a hotel on thursday. a government spokesman announced that it had captured a top come pander of al-shabab who was planning an attack. german prosecutors say they found doctors notes excusing a pilot from work on the day he

flew a passenger plane into a mountain. it added to suspicions that he was hiding an illness before the crash which killed 150 people. nadine barber reports. >> reporter: a president paying his respects. as more information emergeded, germany's head of state joined hundreds of people at this church. this small town in mourning over the death of 16 pupils killed in the plane. >> i came out amidst people who had lost the most precious thing to them. a child, a loved one. i wanted to mourn with them. >> reporter: in germany many people are struggling to understand why lubitz apparently blew the airbus into the mountains on purpose. but german media reports say he suffered a serious episode of depression when he finished training in 2009. and now after investigators

search his apartment and his parent's house, a new twist in the tragedy. >> translator: medical documents were confiscated pointing towards an existing illness and treatment by doctors. the fact that there were torn up sick notes among the things that were found support the assumption based on preliminary examination that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues. >> reporter: at the crash site they are still trying to find human remains. then there's the question of accountability. >> translator: the airline is liable and the insurance that it took out for such cases will step in but it can refuse to pay out if it becomes apparent that the employee acted deliberately and the airline

could have prevented that. the families have left their own tributes at this memorial near the spot where their loved ones died. they have now gone back home with more questions than answers. nadine barber al jazeera. still to come here on al jazeera -- >> i'm rob reynolds in los angeles where a battery recycling plant is about to be shut down. plus the president of sierra leone has ordered everyone to stay in doors until sunday night. we'll tell you why. ♪ we're going to take you live now to a press conference which is just getting underway brigadier general who is a spokesman of the saudi-lead coalition in the operation in yemen is addressing the press. he is a consultant to the minister of defense's office in

riad. let's listen in. >> translator: between the southern area in addition to the pockets of fighters deployed by the houthis to the south of saudi borderline. as stated yesterday, part of the operations carried out yesterday, targeted pockets of the houthi fighters. and as you can see, this is one of the targets hit by our forces yesterday. hitting houthi fighter groups to the south of the kingdom of saudi arabia. today the coalition air forces targeted an air base and as you

are aware, during sometime the houthis took control of this air base, deployed their fighters intensely. that's why the base was targeted in yesterday's and today's operations. particularly in this situation, we meant to destroy the runway to ensure that the air base is not used by the houthi group. the airstrip was targeted today. in order to prevent the houthi militias from using the air base.

today our targets were focused on the movements of the houthi militias between the north and south of yemen, and the governments of supply lines. that's why the coalition forces -- it was essential for the coalition forces to cut off these lines of supply. that's why we targeted one of the bridges intensely used by the houthi groups in moving the supplies and the ballistic missiles. the video shows that this bridge was targeted. as you are aware, as we speak, the houthi militias are trying to deploy reinforces towards sana'a, that's why in addition to the operations carried out on

the first day of our mission, this was a significant one -- on this occasion we reiterate that we targeted such a bridge only for military purposes to cut off the lines of supply as the houthis are moving the ballistic missiles through this line of supplies. that's why we request our brothers from among the yemeni people to -- to keep away from the gatherings of houthi fighters and the lines of supplies as the coalition forces will be attracting all of the movements initiated by the houthi fighters, and the houthi militias in the north and south of yemen on the northern borderline or close to the southern provinces.

our operation continues targeting their air defense systems being rocket launchers or anti-craft artillery. we continue to target the blalistic missiles. and this shows a number of the strikes carried out by the coalition forces today with the participation of air forces from different countries. an example this is an operation carried out by the united arab emirates air force within the past 24 hours. this video shows that the craft -- the jet fighter is being surveyed by the recon crafts and then the target is being hit on the ground.

this video shows how the ballistic missile launchers are being targeted and -- as you can see, this is a direct hit. also the weapon depo and the ammunition depot, including sam-6 rockets were also targeted and hit by the united arab imrates fighters and this was a direct hit of the weapons

ammunition, and depot. what we are trying to stress here is that coalition air forces have dominated the scenes across the yemeni territories. we have high level of accuracy and precision, pinpointing and targeting and hitting our target. and this will continue until all of the targets are being hit as planned under the campaign. and i would like to reiterate that the operation will continue

as planned as per the time scheduled and we hope that the will be successful in hitting all of our goals and hitting all of our targets. now i open the floor for questions. there are reports that commanders are being [ inaudible ] houthi fighters. as i stated at the beginning of this briefing the entire air space of yemen is under the control of the coalition forces and we have not received any information to this affect. any other forces taking part in the operation -- i mean other

countries apart from the [ inaudible ] as i said earlier, commenting on one of the videos that the united arab emirates was bringing today all of the coalition countries are taking part according to the respective missions as planned and as scheduled. a top newspaper -- following the first day and today is the second day of the operation, which has gained the popular support of the yemenese people are the popular gathering preventing the air forces from hitting their targets. as a matter of fact the

coalition forces take as a first priority the safety and well-being of the yemenese civilian citizens and that's why i re-emphasize that the yemenese people should keep away from the gathering of the houthi militias. the houthi militias will try to use human civilian citizens as human shields. however, the high-level of precision and accuracy and the advancement of the weapons used will enable us to pinpoint and precisely hit our targets, and as i said have you got any impression and this is a the second day of the operation that a land operation is looming? it is stated earlier that there are limited movements by the

houthis on the southern borderline of saudi arabia the northern borderline of yemen. it was targeted today by the apache jet fighters and as we speak there is no land movement by the houthis as we speak. first of all, we pray to god all mighty to support the saudi forces and other coalition countries. yesterday the yemeni foreign ministers stated that the resolve storm operation will continue for a few days other reports speak about weeks and months. can you enlighten us about the duration of the operation? is it preplanned?

my second question briefly, follow following the report about the arrival of iranian fighters. is a land operation looming large, and will -- how they will be equipped with weapons? with respect to the first part of your question regarding the duration, as stated from day one, this operation has specific targets that are precisely planned with a specific timetable. we hope that we'll be able to achieve the targets as planned, and as scheduled. no one wishes for such an operation to prolong. however, it will continue as and when necessary. with respect to the second part of your question as stated earlier, no one will be allowed to provide any reinforcements for supplies to the houthis

militias. this is a specific target. the results storm operation it is mainly to support the legitimacy of the president and the government and to restore stability and security to the brotherly country of yemen. we thank you very much for this briefing. you stated about cutting off the lines of supply to the houthi militias. how can control be gained over the air space of yemen? and how can you precisely survey and monitor the supplies on the

ground? and have you obtained any communication with the yemeni tribes on the ground? with respect to surveying the air space, i stated earlier we have gained total control of the air space over yemen, and it's entirety. all of the movements are being monitored. patrols and surveillance is 24/7. and if it is established that there are a kind of movements or convoyed used by the houthi militias continuing any supplies. they will be targeted during the briefing. what was the second part of your question? i asked about coordination with your supporting tribalmen. coordination can only with the legitimate government of yemen, and the members of the government, and it is natural that the legitimate government has its direct contact,

communication, and coordination with the tribal men, the yemeni people, and the honest men of the armed forces. finally, did saudi arabia request for jet fighters? can you elaborate, please? did saudi arabia ask for to be provided with jet fighters? and what is the type of the jet fighters taking part in the operation. from whom? from any party? no what is taking place now is that the coalition forces are taking part as desired by -- by them to support the legitimacy of the president and the yemeni government, the yemeni people. again, it's the houthi militias. each country is taking part by their own force.

al jazeera newspaper. is there operation -- a joint operation theater inside yemen? the second part how can you provide protection to the supporting tribalmen? in other words what is the role for you to protect against the houthis. as you are aware any military operation there must be a central command control theaters and we are in direct constant contact with the honest men of the armed forces inside yemen. and with respect to protection, it must be provided to all of the yemeni people without exception, the people of yemen from all walks of life not only the tribes and tribesmen.

this is the main and key goal of the coalition to restore stability and security. did you monitor any attempt to use yemeni jet fighters? as explained on the first briefing that the jet fighters controlled by the houthi militias were targeted and destroyed as they are on the ground. since then, none of the yemeni jet fighters have been used by the houthi as we have gained total control of the yemeni air space. >> i'm with reuters. do you have any information on how close this is doing to aden? and do you think that your operations can stop them from taking control of aden? >> first of all, i want to compel the operation itself -- the main objective is

to protect the government in yemen. there is some elements of the houthi militias reach the -- some of the area around aden, and the air base. they were attacked by the coalition, now the air base is under control of the yemeni army. we will continue to target their movement -- their -- their concentration of forces until we clarify all of the area that they are controlling now. >> reporter: just a followup if they do manage to take aden will that represent pint at which you reconsider the campaign? >> please could you repeat again. >> reporter: if they do still manage to capture aden would you have to reconsider the goals of the campaign?