Dozens dead in Saudi-led raids on Yemen capital

The raids followed the UN confirmation of June 14 as the start date for peace talks in Geneva, which both the Iran-backed rebels and Yemen’s exiled government led by President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi have said they will attend.

Sanaa // More than 40 Houthis and allied soldiers were reported killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on the military headquarters in the rebel-held capital on Sunday.

More than 70 people were wounded in the attack, according to the Saba news agency, which is controlled by the Houthi rebels.

The raids came a day after the Saudi Arabia’s air defences shot down a Scud missile fired by the Houthis from northern Yemen.

They also followed the UN confirmation of June 14 as the start date for peace talks in Geneva, which both the Iran-backed rebels and Yemen’s exiled government led by President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi have said they will attend.

Witnesses in Sanaa said seven air raids on Sunday targeted the Jumaineh military base, east of the capital.

The base belongs to the elite Republican Guard that has remained loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has allied himself with the Huthis.

Other raids hit an arms depot at Nahdain, south of Sanaa.

Several rebel positions in the north, mainly in the Houthi stronghold Saada province and the provinces of Hajja and Amran, were heavily bombarded overnight by the coalition, witnesses said.

In the south, coalition jets targeted rebel positions on the northern and western outskirts of second city Aden in support of southern fighters backing exiled Mr Hadi.

Fighters from the southern Popular Resistance were attempting to prevent rebels from advancing towards the neighbourhoods of Al Masnoura, Dar Saad, Sheikh Othman and Al Buraiqa, according to a pro-Hadi military commander.

“Several Houthi rebels and allies were killed or wounded,” said General Fadhl Baesh.

Riyadh said the Houthis fired a Scud missile at Saudi territory Saturday, a day after their rebel allies killed four Saudi soldiers in cross-border attacks.

Yemen has been engulfed in turmoil since the Houthis seized the capital in September and advanced on the southern city of Aden, forcing Mr Hadi to flee into exile in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition has carried out air strikes on Yemen since March 26 to push back the rebels and restore Hadi’s authority. More than 2,000 people have died since the air campaign began.

The United Nations urged Yemeni parties to engage in talks in Geneva without preconditions.

The meeting would be the first significant effort to stop the fighting, which has led to what the UN says is a catastrophic humanitarian situation.

Houthi rebels said they will attend the talks, and Yemen’s government exiled in Riyadh also said it would take part.

Mr Hadi’s government had refused to attend talks unless the rebels pulled back from at least some of the territory they have seized in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

* Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse