9 killed in air strike on Sanaa

sanaa — Nine people were killed when Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed a district in the Yemeni capital Sanaa inhabited by relatives of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, residents and medics said.

The air raid, which also wounded at least 60 people, came ahead of planned UNsponsored talks in Geneva aimed at ending Yemen’s civil war that has drawn in regional powers, including the world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

Residents said the warplanes had targeted vacant houses in Bait Me’yad, a district near the heart of Sanaa that is home to a number of relatives of Saleh, whose loyalists are allied with Houthi forces, the dominant armed faction in the conflict.

Mohammed Yahya, an eyewitness, said two missiles struck two Saleh relatives’ houses while the third crashed in the middle of the neighbourhood, causing several casualties.

Another witness said three explosions shook the neighbourhood.

“We felt as if the house was going to collapse over our heads,” said the man, identified as Ali Ahmed. “We ran, with the children, and hid under the stairwell. It was terrifying.”—