At least six killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Yemeni capital
The strikes come two days after Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a drone attack on a critical oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia.
Thursday 16 May 2019 12:15, UK
At least six people, including four children, have been killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Yemen's capital Sanaa.
The rebel-controlled health ministry said 41 people were also wounded, including two women with Russian nationality.
Smoke rose from the rubble of several houses after the strikes in Sanaa's al-Raqas neighborhood this morning.
Sanaa resident Ahmed al-Kori said he and his entire family of six were woken up by the bombing and found themselves covered by debris.
"We don't know how we hit the ground," Mr al-Kori said.
Dust, pieces of glass, metal and debris were strewn on the streets and covered cars parked in the neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, residents were desperately digging through the rubble and shovelling dirt to search for any survivors.
The airstrikes came two days after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched a drone attack on a critical oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, Tehran's biggest rival in the region.
The drone strikes followed mysterious sabotage attacks on tankers in the Persian Gulf.
Amid rising tensions, the United States said it was sending an aircraft carrier and other forces to the Middle East due to what it said were Iranian threats, while Tehran has called the US military presence "a target" rather than a threat.
On Monday, rebel Houthi fighters said they had started a long-awaited withdrawal from key ports in Yemen after peace talks to end the four-year civil war that had pitted the Houthis against the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by the Saudi-led coalition.
The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 people, including combatants, and pushed the country's already impoverished population to the verge of famine.