Published time: 16 May, 2019 15:16Edited time: 17 May, 2019 08:19
The Saudi-led coalition has resumed airstrikes on the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Thursday in apparent retaliation for a drone attack on an oil pipeline. Russian nationals have reportedly been hurt in the bombings.
A senior health official of the Houthi rebels, who control Sanaa, said Saudi strikes left six civilians dead, including four children, and injured 52 others, two of whom were Russian women working in the healthcare sector.
One of the strikes wiped out an entire family after a building they lived in collapsed on them, killing both spouses and a child, AP reported. The incident happened in the densely populated al-Raqas neighborhood of the Yemeni capital.
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The coalition said it was conducting strikes against military targets in Sanaa to neutralize the rebels’ ability “to carry out acts of aggression.” The bombings came a day after the Houthis conducted an armed drone raid on two Saudi oil pumping stations. Riyadh accused Iran of launching the attack through its proxies, but Tehran and the Houthis insisted the rebels carried it out on their own.
Fighting also renewed after in Yemen’s southern Dhale governorate, where the Houthis are pushing to gain more ground from the Saudi-backed forces of the Yemeni government. The hostilities left 27 people dead, according to Mohammed Askar, the Yemeni human rights minister.
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The violence came after months of relative calm, which began after UN-sponsored peace talks started in December.
Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen in March 2015, after Yemen’s Riyadh-friendly president was ousted by the rebels. The coalition is able to conduct bombing raids thanks to weapons, refueling and weapons provided by the US and the UK.
The Saudis stand accused of seriously worsening the situation in Yemen through devastation of civilian infrastructure and a blockade that prevents crucial supplies from reaching the civilian population. The UN calls the crisis the worst humanitarian disaster in the world today.
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