Sanaa, July 9 (RHC)-- The latest airstrikes carried out by Saudi warplanes as well as clashes on the Yemeni-Saudi border have killed several soldiers who had defected to the Houthi Ansarullah forces, a military source says.

The unnamed military source said on Wednesday that the airstrikes, which killed at least 30 troops, hit after "dozens of soldiers defected and announced their support" for the Houthi Ansarullah fighters a day earlier.

The move prompted clashes between the defectors and forces loyal to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. Saudi jets intervened afterward, while air raids and fighting reportedly destroyed or damaged armored vehicles and troop carriers.

Saudi warplanes have been pounding Yemen since March 26th. The relentless attacks on the impoverished county are carried out without authorization from the United Nations and regardless of international calls for a halt to the onslaught.