At least 33 people died in air strikes carried out by Saudi Arabia, Houthi-affiliated media reported following an attack on buildings east of the capital Sanaa.
Strikes Hit Towns Near Sanaa and Taiz
Live video footage broadcast on the Houthi-run Al Masirah television station showed rescue workers pulling bodies from the rubble of several structures in al-Shariyah, a town located east of Sanaa. The station reported that the Saturday strikes killed at least 33 individuals, including women and children, while the Saba news agency stated that 39 others sustained injuries.
The bombardment followed an attack on a market in Taiz province on Friday. Multiple Houthi sources told Agence France-Presse that roughly 30 Houthi fighters and eight civilians were killed in a series of strikes across the Taiz region on Sunday. Concurrently, the internationally recognised Yemeni government announced that it targeted a Houthi military camp and vehicles in the area.
Missile Interception Causes Minor Damage to Aramco Tower
Hours prior to the al-Shariyah strike, the Saudi-led coalition announced it intercepted a missile heading toward Riyadh. The Saudi Ministry of Energy stated that falling shrapnel struck the Aramco tower, causing minor damage to the state-owned oil company’s building.
In response to the security developments, schools in Riyadh announced on Sunday that they would shift to remote learning for one week without providing explanations in messages sent to parents and reviewed by Agence France-Presse.
The renewed fighting in Yemen follows a period of dormancy that ended as a result of the Iran war. Saudi Arabia has led a coalition that has fought the Houthis for more than a decade in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, intervening militarily in 2015.
Mahdi al-Mashat vowed that the group would retaliate for the latest military actions across Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition did not issue an immediate comment regarding the casualties reported by Houthi-run media.