Schoolchildren killed as Saudi-led airstrike hits army base in Yemen

A Saudi-led airstrike hit a Shiite Houthi-controlled military base in central Yemeni province of Ibb on Tuesday, destroying the base and damaging a nearby school where two students were killed, officials and residents told Xinhua.

"We heard sounds of several warplanes hovering above our heads since early morning. Abruptly, we then heard six powerful bombings on al-Hamza military base in Mafrak Maitam," tribal official Mohamed Kassim told Xinhua by phone.

"The military base, which is under the control of Houthi militias and their allies of former Republican Guards, was almost destroyed," he said.

The aerial bombardments also damaged a nearby school, killing two students, aged 10 to 12 years old, and dozens of others were injured, local residents said.

The air attack in Ibb, 193 km south of the capital Sanaa, came hours after another overnight air raid blew up a missile depot in al-Subaha military base of former Republican Guards in southwest Sanaa, triggering an hour-long strong explosion and sending columns of black smoke into the sky.

Overnight air raids also targeted a village in Sanhan, the hometown of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, 16 km southeast of Sanaa. Residents said two citizens were killed and three others injured.

The Saudi-led coalition said the multinational action was to protect the legitimacy of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled after weeks of house arrest by Houthi rebels, and force the Houthis to retreat from cities they have seized since September 2014. Endit