Airstrikes kill 10 civilians north of Yemen's capital

At least 10 civilians were killed and dozens wounded when Saudi-led airstrikes hit a village north of Yemen's capital Sanaa on Saturday, a security official said.

The death toll is more likely to increase as rescue teams are searching underneath of destroyed houses and near an artesian well in Bait Sa'dan village of Arhab district, about 50 km north of Sanaa, said the official.

"The warplanes launched five airstrikes against the residents' houses and farms this morning and resumed with other three strikes when rescue teams approached the area to try to rescue possible survivors, killing or injuring many of them," the offical told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Further 10 airstrikes hit the village later in the morning, the official added.

There were dozens of injured bleeding and rescue teams and medics were trying to rush them to hospitals, the official added.

Official Saba news agency, which is under control of Shiite Houthi rebels, reported more than 50 killed and injured in the airstrikes against the village, but without detailing the number.

This was the latest in a series of air strikes against civilians in Yemen, which triggered widespread criticism against Saudi-led military coalition.

On Thursday, the coalition warplanes killed nine civilians from three families, including four children, in Yemen's northern province of Amran, some 60 km north of Sanaa.

The military Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been aerial bombing rebels, Shiite Houthi armed group and its allied troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, since 2015 after the rebels expelled Saudi-backed internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

Houthi fighters and Saleh forces stormed Sanaa and about half of the country's north in late 2014 and they still dominate despite the 18-month intensified war.

The coalition intervened with air military campaign with the aim to prevent the rebels from controlling the country and restore the government.

The UN-sponsored peace talks between Yemeni rival factions collapsed last month, but UN envoy Ismail Ould Chiekh Ahmed said this week the Yemeni parties agreed to resume negotiations to end war and share future new government.

At least 10,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the airstrikes and battles, and about three million are displaced.

Source : XINHUA