Air raids in Yemen's capital Sanaa kills 30 civilians; rescue operation underway

Sanaa: Air raids on Yemen’s rebel-held capital on Wednesday killed more than 30 people, including civilians, local and international aid organisations said. Hussein al-Tawil, head of the Sanaa branch of Yemen’s Red Crescent, said at least 35 people were killed in raids on Sanaa as rescuers continued to pull bodies from the rubble. An official with an international aid organisation confirmed to AFP that at least 30 people had been killed in a series of strikes on Sanaa, which is home to the country’s anti-government Huthi rebels. [caption id=“attachment_3965325” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] Earlier it was reported that several people including civilians were killed in an air raid Wednesday on the Yemeni capital, witnesses and local media said. A television channel run by the country’s Huthi rebels, who control Sanaa, reported more than 30 civilians killed in a raid by the Saudi-led military coalition that is allied with the Yemeni government. The number could not be immediately confirmed with independent sources. Witnesses told AFP multiple air strikes had hit the capital on Wednesday, including at a housing unit for workers from a nearby qat farm. There were reports that members of the Huthi rebel group had been staying in the area. The war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-backed rebels has killed more than 8,300 Yemenis since 2015 and pushed the country to the brink of famine. While the rebel alliance, which includes former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, controls the capital, the pro-government Arab coalition controls Yemen’s airspace. Northern Yemen has come under aerial attack in recent months. On 24 June civilians were killed when an air strike hit a market in northern Yemen that was a centre for trafficking in qat, a leafy stimulant plant that is widely used in Yemen but banned by neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Local sources, including hospital officials, blamed the June strike on the Saudi-led Arab coalition. The coalition has not claimed responsibility for the attack.