Female soldiers wearing burkas put on show of force by brandishing machine guns and rocket launchers
The women at anti-Saudi rally in Yemen were locked and loaded showing support for Shiite Houthi rebels
WOMEN dressed in burkas put on a show of arms as they took to the streets of Yemen at a protest rally against Saudi Arabia.
Dressed in the head to toe garments which obscured their faces, the female fighters brandished machine guns, rocket launchers and grenades.
The anti-Saudi rally took place in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Tuesday.
The women also wore hats as they showed support for the Shiite Houthi rebels.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a military campaign against the Houthis and their allies in March 2015.
It was after the rebels closed in on Gulf-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his southern refuge of Aden, forcing him into exile.
The female protesters have pledged to remain supportive and do whatever they can to back the ongoing resistance against the kingdom.
Yemen is in the grip of its most severe crisis in years, and is on the brink of civil war.
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The main fight is between forces loyal to the President Hadi, and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis.
The security forces of the country have split loyalties - some units back Hadi while others his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh.
He has remained politically influential, and he is also supported by the predominantly Sunni south of the country and militia known as Popular Resistance Committee, along with local tribesmen.
President Hadi and the Houthis are opposed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
They have staged numerous deadly attacks.
To add to the complicated dynamic, in late 2014 a Yemen affiliate emerged of the jihadist group Islamic State - it seeks to eclipse AQAP and claimed responsibility for a number of suicide bombings in the capital in March 2015.
The president called for the aid of a coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, to intervene and launched air strikes on Huthi targets.
The coalition is made up of the five Gulf Arab states and Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.
