Dozens killed as Saudi warplanes pound areas across Yemen

More than two dozen civilians have lost their lives and many more sustained injuries as Saudi military aircraft conducted a fresh round of attacks against several areas across Yemen.

On Sunday morning, a total of 13 people, among them women and children, were killed in airstrikes by Saudi warplanes against Yarim District of the southwestern city of Ibb, located about 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of the capital, Sana’a, Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported.

The report added that more than two dozen people were also injured in the attacks, and seven residential buildings were reduced to rubble.

Saudi warplanes also pounded the al-Anad air base near the southern city of al-Houta in Lahij Province. There were no immediate reports on the possible casualties as well as the extent of the damage.

Additionally, Saudi military aircraft bombarded a number of houses in the Monabbih district of Yemen’s mountainous northwestern province of Sa’ada, leaving 19 people dead and several others injured.

Fierce clashes also broke out between Houthi Ansarullah fighters and militants loyal to fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in the port city of Ma’alla, situated about 298 kilometers (185 miles) south of the capital. Scores of people were killed or injured.

Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and to restore power to Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.

More than 3,000 people, including 1,500 civilians, have been killed over the past few months in Yemen, according to the United Nations. Some local sources though put the number of the dead at 4,500.