Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Saudi warships have evacuated dozens of foreign diplomats from Yemen's main southern city Aden, state television reported on Saturday, as the kingdom leads an air war against advancing Shiite rebels.

‘Saudi naval forces carried out Operation Tornado to evacuate dozens of diplomats, including Saudis, from Aden,’ the television said.

‘They arrived later in Jeddah aboard two Saudi naval vessels.’

The evacuation to Saudi Arabia followed deadly fighting in Aden between supporters and opponents of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who took refuge in the port city last month after fleeing the rebel-held capital.

Hadi arrived in Egypt on Friday for a summit with Arab allies, a day after he surfaced in Riyadh.

He went into hiding earlier in the week as rebel forces bore down on Aden and a warplane attacked the presidential palace.

A Saudi-led coalition has carried out three nights of air strikes against the Iranian-backed Huthi rebels and their allies to try to prevent Hadi's fall.

The situation has become increasingly tense in Aden with rebel forces clashing with anti-Huthi militiamen in several areas.

On Friday, at least eight people were killed in fighting around the city's international airport.

‘Intense bombing shakes Yemen capital’

Heavy bombing shook Yemen's capital for a third night, residents said Saturday, as Saudi-led warplanes struck Iranian-backed rebels to try to prevent the fall of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

‘It was an intense night of bombing and the windows shook,’ said a foreigner working for an international aid organisation in Sanaa.

‘People want to leave but there are no flights out of Yemen,’ she said.

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.

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, accusing Shiite Iran of ‘aggression’ and backing the Huthi rebels' power grab.