Saudi-led air strikes hit hotel, killing at least 41
CAIRO — An air strike by a Saudi-led coalition struck a hotel near Yemen’s capital on Wednesday, killing at least 41 people as the alliance stepped up air strikes against the Houthi rebels and their allies in and around Sanaa.
The escalation comes amid a standoff in Sanaa between the two main components of the rebel alliance, Shiite fighters from the north known as Houthis and loyalists of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. There are mounting fears of street violence.
There were conflicting reports on the identity of the victims of the hotel strike, with doctors saying they were farmers and officials and witnesses saying they included rebels. The coalition has been battling the rebels, who control Sanaa, since early 2015.
The fighter jets targeted a two-story hotel in the town of Arhab, about 22 miles north of the capital, Sanaa, officials said.
Bodies were still being retrieved from the rubble, witnesses said. Another air strike hit a checkpoint manned by the Houthis a few miles from the hotel, they added. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. The witnesses requested anonymity for fear of retribution.
Footage of the area aired on al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-run satellite news network, showed bodies hanging out of a simple cinderblock building. Bystanders wrapped mangled corpses into blankets to try to carry them away.
The TV network said 41 civilians were killed and that the death toll was expected to rise further. Officials and witnesses said the death toll had reached 60 and that the majority of those killed were Houthis rebels.