Saudi air strike kills 33 in Yemen, Houthis say

At least 33 people have been killed in a Saudi air strike on a town east of Yemen’s capital Sanaa, according to Houthi-linked media. Women and children were among the dead, the reports said. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Rescuers pull bodies from rubble

Footage broadcast by Al Masirah, a Houthi-run TV channel, showed rescuers digging bodies from the rubble of several buildings in al-Shariyah. The bodies of young children were seen among those pulled out. Injured people were carried on stretchers to hospital. The Houthi-run Saba news agency said 39 people were also wounded in the attack, which it said was carried out by Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

The Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis for more than a decade in support of Yemen’s government. The war had been largely dormant for several years but reignited as a result of the Iran war. A truce began to fall apart when Saudi Arabia struck Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. The Tehran-backed Houthis then targeted Abha airport in Saudi Arabia and began hitting Saudi ships in the Red Sea.

Major fighting has resumed across Yemen. On Friday, an attack on a market in Taiz province reportedly killed 30 people. The Houthis accused the Saudis of the strike, while government forces accused the Houthis of firing a missile at the site. The UN says more than 1,600 people have been killed and over 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed.

Hours before the al-Shariyah strike, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a missile heading towards Riyadh. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said an Aramco tower was hit by falling shrapnel in what it called an attempted attack. Houthi leader Mahdi al-Mashat said the group “will take revenge for the latest attacks in Yemen”.