omar al saleh al jazeera. >> saudi arabia already saying it's a success. what does that mean? >> well basically what the saudis are trying to do is target basically the fighter jets and destroy them. and long range rocket launchers. these are the biggest concerns for them because they think that the houthis will be definitely willing to use them to retaliate against the u.s. led -- the saudi led air strikes and just over the last few hours they basically went after two main areas: the capital sanaa where you have the republican guard which is -- this is backed by ali abdalla saleh and the houthi stronghold, they are trying to destroy the ammunition and rocket launchers. very good situation by the end of the day because the houthis are very well entrenched in the south of the country and it is unsure whether air strikes alone will be able to disrupt the entire structure of the houthis. >> it's not going to be as easy as removing them and moving on to another process? >> it is going to be very delicate. there is always annually alien are because they are not comfortable with the

omar al saleh. al jazeera. >>> a coalition led by the al nusra front has captured the northern section of idlib. stefanie dekker has the story. >> the city of idlib has been under the syrian government through most of the war but after days of fighting it is the rebels who are now in charge. led by the al nusra front an al qaeda affiliate, al jazeera spoke to a fighter with them in the city. >> translator: alfattah is the main reason for advance in the idlib city. there are no names all rebels are fighting under the one name of gish alphash al al fatah. >> this one appears to show fighters reuniting at home. after years ton battlefield. now we're told thousands have fled during this recent offensive. air strikes have been carried out in the last four days unprecedented in this area because it's been aired this footage of the syrian army and sair its forcessay its force he are regrouping. there doesn't seem to be too much concern the fighters aring being fighting this city. >> islamic state of iraq and the leva

omar al saleh here for us in the studio. somer joins us from washington, d.c. welcome once again to al jazeera jazeera, somer your reaction to the military action launched in yemen? >> it's surprising to have an air strike so soon to the houthis expanding to aden. for me, my main concern is on the people on the ground are they safe? what is this air strike targeting? is it just restricted to military bases or is it going to expand to other sites as well? >> exactly. it's not clear at this point what exactly those objectives are of these air strikes. now you had said when we spoke a few days ago that you were hopeful that there might still be a political solution. >> yes. i was hopeful that there was a political solution. i think that if saudi arabia and their allies decided to engage the houthis in a proper dialogue that there was a way for this. i definitely think that this air strike is a bit haste and rushed, i think they should have suggested a place outside the gulf states to involve all the yemeni actors on the ground. i think that's definitely what scared saudi arabia off having said th

. >> thank you omar al saleh, speaking to us on the impact of the houthi rebels on yemen. if you joined us on al jazeera, we have rolling coverage on the recent air strike led by saudi arabia on sanaa. the capital of yemen, against houthi rebels. earlier hack im al-masmari spoke to us via skype. >> everywhere woke up. and the attacks happened quickly. the targets have been the headquarters, council offices, gathering points anything that belonged to the houthi forces even the missile brigade. this is a full-scale war in sanaa, starting an hour ago, and by morning we will know the damages. we can't leave the house. by early morning it will be different. different to what it was an hour ago. >> are the air strikes continuing as we speak. >> they are nonstop every second. you hear by the second a different location around sanaa. that's where i did it earlier, that the sanaa of the morning will be different to last night. completely different. all the air strikes will have results, especially since we heard they targeted the yemeni military airport, trying to handicap the airport and haven't succeeded. >> h

. >> omar al saleh, great talking to us giving us the implication, wider implication of what is happening in the region. if you have joined us on al jazeera, we have rolling coverage of what happened in yemen, a saudi arabia led coalition conducted air strikes in yemen on the capital sanaa, targetting several houthi rebels there. we know at least 10 people have been killed in those air strikes. earlier we spoke with the former director of national security studies at the council on foreign relations, lawrence korb and he said it was inevitable. >> if the bombing doesn't achieve the objectives what next? more bombings will you do it like libya, where it lasted seven months before they got muammar gaddafi out. what will they do if the houthis send insurgents into saudi arabia? will they be willing to put ground forces in. it's easy to start a war, more difficult to stop and you should think about these things before you start. we hope that this will have such a shock that the houthis will negotiate with the government to come to a power sharing arrangement. >> do you think that will happen? how long can the houthis fight? >> i gain that is