Cairo, March 27 (IANS): The Bahraini king said in a statement on Friday that military intervention has become the only way to rescue the Yemeni people.

The king made the remarks as he arrived in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh resort city to attend an Arab summit, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We decided to take part in the Decisive Storm Operation with the coalition to defend the legitimacy in Yemen after all political ways were over," King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa explained.

A Saudi-led military coalition launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen early on Thursday.

Yemen was hit by a wave of internal violence since the Shia Houthi rebels ousted Yemeni President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi in February and forced him to flee the capital Sanaa to the southern seaside city of Aden.

On Thursday, Hadi fled Aden to Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh and he is expected to arrive in Sharm El-Sheikh later on Friday to attend the Arab summit that will kick off on Saturday.

The Bahraini king, who was received by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at the airport, expressed hope for all Yemenis "to return to dialogue and engage in the political process based on the Gulf initiative".

So far, the Bahraini king and the Palestinian and the Tunisian presidents have arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh to attend the summit and other Arab leaders are expected to arrive later.