Saudi-Led Alliance Kills 19 Civilians In Yemen Airstrikes, Rebels Say

A Saudi-led air alliance struck a main stronghold of Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday, killing 19 civilians, according to a Houthi official.

The dead in the strikes in the province of Saada in Yemen’s far north included children and women, a spokesperson for the Houthis, Mohammed Abdel-Salam, tweeted, without giving further details.

Earlier on Wednesday, a provincial health official said the alliance jets had carried out two air raids in the Old Quarter of Saada, killing 11 civilians and injuring four others.

Head of the Saada health office, Abdelellah al-Ezi, told dpa the jets later in the day renewed their bombardment of the area as medical workers were heading to the site to help the victims.

The Saudi-led coalition has made no comment on the report.

The purported strikes came a day after Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis toward its capital Riyadh, the third such missile in two months.

The coalition said it would keep the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeida open to give Yemen access to badly needed food supplies in spite on Tuesday’s missile firing.

“This decision comes to reflect the alliance’s keenness to provide humanitarian assistance,’’ the bloc said in a statement, according to the official Saudi news agency SPA.

In November, the alliance closed the port of Hodeida for about three weeks in response to the Houthis’ firing of a missile targeting Riyadh.

Yemen, one of the Arab world’s poorest countries, has been embroiled in a devastating conflict between a Saudi-backed government and the Houthis for the past three years.

The conflict has intensified since March 2015, when the Houthis advanced on the government’s temporary capital of Aden, prompting Saudi Arabia and Sunni allies to start an air campaign against the Shiite group.

The feud has devastated Yemen’s healthcare and left the country on the brink of famine.

The alliance has stepped up attacks in rebel-held areas in Yemen since Dec. 4, when the Houthis killed former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, their erstwhile ally after he had shifted allegiances to the Saudis.

Saudi Arabia fears that the rebels would give its regional rival, Shiite Iran, a strategic foothold on the Arabian Peninsula.

(NAN)