65 killed in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen

Sanaa: At least 65 civilians were killed on Tuesday in airstrikes carried out by Saudi-led coalition aircrafts that hit a crowded market in north of Sanaa.

"So far, the death toll mounted to 65 civilians and 55 others injured when the Saudi-led fighter jets launched two airstrikes on Al-Khamees market in Mastaba district in Hajja province," a medical official told Xinhua.

Doctors without Borders reported that they have received about 40 injured from the airstrikes in Mastaba district and they were brought to the organisation-hosted Rural Hospital in Abs district.

Hajja, about 123 km northwest of the rebel-held Sanaa, is another stronghold of the rebel Shiite Houthi rebels, who also control northern provinces, while southern provinces have been retaken over the past few months by the government forces loyal to the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.


The Saudi-led coalition started daily air bombing on the Shiite Houthi rebels and their allied forces since March 2015, vowing to drive out the rebels and retrieve Sanaa, the capital.

Yemen has been mired in an all-out civil war since September 2014, when the Shiite Houthi group backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh invaded the capital Sanaa and drove President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile. The war has killed nearly 6,000 people, mostly civilians.