Saudi-led strikes hit defense ministry in Yemeni capital

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A fresh Saudi-led airstrike hit a residential neighborhood overnight in central Yemen's capital Sanaa, injuring at least six residents and completely destroying four resident houses, a Xinhua photographer at the scene said on Saturday.

Another three houses were partially destroyed in the airstrike, said the photographer and witnesses.

Residents said the first airstrike hit the compound of the defense ministry late night of Friday, and minutes later a second airstrike hit the residential quarter just a few meters east of the ministry building.

Dozens of houses and cars were badly damaged, they said. A medic in Al-Thawra hospital confirmed the injury of six residents.

This is the latest in a series of airstrikes by the coalition since the war began more than two and a half years ago.

A boy walks past a house damaged by the Saudi-led air strike in Yemen's capital Sanaa on November 11, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Last week, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike killed and wounded at least 50 people, including civilians, in a village in Yemen's northwest province of Hajjah, according to a provincial security official and medics.

The coalition stepped up air campaign after a ballistic missile fired by the Yemeni rebel Houthi earlier last week fell and exploded in King Khalid Airport north of Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.

The action led the coalition to impose an all-out blockade and close all air, sea and land ports of Yemen for fears of smuggling weapons to the rebels.

The war has led Yemen to the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe with about one million Yemenis dealing with a deadly cholera outbreak, and is pushing the Arab country to the brink of famine.

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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency