Saudi-led airstrikes kill 17 Houthi rebels, 19 civilians north of Yemen

Saudi-led warplanes killed at least 17 Shiite Houthi rebels and 19 civilians in multiple airstrikes in Yemen's northern province of Hajjah on Sunday, an official and witnesses said.

"A total of 17 new recruited young rebels training in Abs military camp at Abs district in Hajjah were killed and other dozens were severely injured," an official there told Xinhua by phone.

"The next-door bottling plant, which is frequented by the rebels, was also hit by the fighter jets, killing at least 19 workers and wounding several others," the official added.

Witnesses and residents confirmed both incidents. They said both air attacks were part of at least 15 airstrikes on several Shiite rebel positions in the area since early Sunday morning.

The air campaign came after the Shiite Houthi rebels sent reinforcements of new recruited youths from villages to frontlines in Abs area.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition has been air striking on a daily basis the Iranian-allied Shiite Houthi group across the country since March 26, when President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to the Saudi capital Riyadh to take refuge.

The coalition said its intervention aims to restore Hadi's authority in the country.

The Shiite armed group seized much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa last September, and ousted Hadi and his government. The group said it was a revolution against corrupt officials loyal to Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Over four weeks ago, Hadi's forces, backed by elite troops and armored vehicles from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, launched a number of offensives against the rebels and recaptured the southern provinces of Aden, Lahj, al-Dhalea, Abyan and Shabwa.

UN humanitarian agencies have recorded at least 6,221 civilian casualties, including at least 1,950 civilians killed and 4,271 wounded in the five months of conflict.

There is no sign that the warring parties intend to end the civil war, as the impoverished Arab country is at risk to escalate an all-out civil war.

On Thursday, a large number of Yemeni troops trained in Saudi Arabia and equipped with modern military gear entered Yemeni border crossing al-Wadee'ah in Yemen's southeast province of Hadramout. They have already arrived in the oil-rich central province of Marib, some 173 km northeast of Sanaa, according to military sources there.

They said the forces are all geared up for cleaning Marib from the rebels and advancing to the rebel-held capital Sanaa in weeks.

"A ground operation backed by the coalition air campaign began in Marib today (Sunday)," a senior military official told Xinhua. Endit