The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several air strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday after the Iranian-aligned movement claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Saudi oil installations.
The Sanaa strikes targeted nine military sites in and around the city, residents told Reuters. A Reuters witnesses said houses had been damaged in the raids and that people lifted a body out of the rubble of one home. The Houthi-run Masirah TV channel reported six air strikes and said six civilians had been killed and dozens wounded, including women and children. A coalition spokesman did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment.
A coalition statement carried by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV, said the Sunni Muslim alliance struck military bases and facilities and weapons storage sites with the aim of "neutralizing the ability of the Houthi militia to carry out acts of aggression". "The sorties achieved its goals with full precision," the coalition said. It had urged civilians to avoid those targets.
One resident reported a strike near a densely-populated district and said ambulances rushed to the area, where flames and clouds of smoke could be seen.
"There was an air strike near us, in the middle of an area packed with residents between Hael and Raqas (streets)," Abdulrazaq Mohammed told Reuters. "The explosion was so strong that stones were flying.
This is the first time our house shakes so much." Sanaa has been held by the Houthi movement since it ousted the internationally recognized government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from power there in late 2014.
-Reuters, Sanaa
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