Saudi-led coalition air raid kills 31 in Yemen head

A Saudi-led coalition air raid struck a factory in northern Yemen on Sunday killing 17 civilians and 14 Shiite Huthi rebels, medics and witnesses said.

The raid targeted a bottled-water plant in Hajja, a province bordering Saudi Arabia. Most of the bodies transferred to the main public hospital in Hajja were charred, according to medics.

A similar air strike last month killed 65 civilians at residences of employees of a power plant in Mokha, according to Human Rights Watch.

Another attack on a dairy plant in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in April left 35 civilians dead.

Warplanes from the pro-government coalition on Sunday carried out at least 12 raids on rebel positions in northern Yemen, where the Huthis have their stronghold.

Four strikes took place in the central Baida province, witnesses said, and other air raids targeted rebel positions south of Sanaa.

The coalition in late March launched an air campaign against the Iran-backed Shiite rebels in support of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. 

Source: AFP