According to an AFP photographer, it was the most violent night of raids heard in the capital since the operation began late Wednesday. He said the bombing was felt throughout the night until dawn.

The airstrikes apparently mainly targeted arms depots and other military facilities outside Sanaa, witnesses said.

Airstrikes in Yemen intensified on Friday as Egypt and Saudi Arabia considered an intervention on the ground. Airforce planes attacked Yemen's largest city of Sanaa for the 3rd day as the Arab coalition worked to give ousted former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a secure foothold to return to the country.

A likely entry point for troops from the Saudi-led coalition was the southern port of Aden, Yemeni and Egyptian military officials told The Associated Press.

At least 24 civilians were killed in Friday's strikes, bringing the toll from two days to 45 civilians," Yemen's Interior Ministry said

Saudi Arabia says more than 10 countries have joined the Arab coalition defending Hadi, who arrived in Egypt on Friday to meet Arab allies at a regional summit.

Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia has vowed to do "whatever it takes" to prevent Hadi's overthrow.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia's navy evacuated dozens of foreign diplomats from the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, state television reported on Saturday.

It added that the diplomats had arrived safely at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait relocated their embassies to Aden last month after Houthi forces overran Sanaa. Other Arab and Western states also withdrew diplomats from the capital.

Houthi fighters made broad gains in the country's south and east on Friday despite a second day of Saudi-led air strikes meant to prevent of overthrow ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The Shiite Muslim Houthi fighters and allied army units gained their first foothold on Yemen's Arabian Sea coast by seizing the port of Shaqra 100km east of Aden, residents told Reuters