Local Editor
A Saudi-led coalition air strike killed nine civilians outside the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Sunday night, residents said, as forces loyal to the exiled government stepped up an offensive in the area.
The strike hit Odhar village in the Nehm area, which has been at the center of renewed fighting between supporters of fugitive President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government and the Houthi revolutionaries backed by the popular committees.
U.N.-backed peace talks to end Yemen’s conflict broke down over the weekend, and pro-Hadi forces said they had begun an offensive to retake Sana’a.
Two residents of the Nehm area reached by telephone said four people returning from a market were killed when their vehicle was hit as it passed a grocery store. Five people in the store also died in the air strike, they said.
Saba state news agency said 12 people died including six members of the same family, and that some bodies were burnt beyond recognition. The agency said 17 others were wounded.
A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition referred inquiries to the Yemeni regime. A military spokesman said he was checking the report.
At least 6,400 people have been killed in Yemen’s 16-month war, half of them civilians, according to the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia began its deadly campaign against Yemen in late March 2015. The strikes were meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
About 10,000 people have been killed and over 16,000 injured since Riyadh launched the airstrikes. The Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s facilities and infrastructure.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
