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Saudis say suspect in police killing linked to Islamic State

One of the deadliest attacks on civilians occurred in September of a year ago, when 131 people died in an airstrike on a wedding in the village of Al-Wahijah.

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The assembly convened within earshot of bombings by Saudi-led warplanes on military bases several miles away.

The internationally-recognized government led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has declared a new offensive in the mountains of Nihm east of Sanaa, which aims at reclaiming the capital.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition had no comment on the attack.

Fighting has intensified since United Nations -sponsored peace talks between the Houthis, backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the internationally recognized government ended on Saturday without an agreement.

Separately on Saturday, the Houthis and Saleh loyalists convened parliament in Sanaa for the first time in almost two years in defiance of the Saudi-based Hadi, who called the parliamentary session “invalid”.

“Whatever takes place at this meeting has no legal effects and can not be implemented”, he said. According to the constitution, more than 150 lawmakers must be present for voting to take place.

Last week, Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and the General People’s Congress (GPC) party of the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, jointly appointed a governing supreme council to run the country.

Last week, he suspended UN-brokered talks between rebels and the government in Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia accuses its regional rival Iran of backing the Shiite Houthi rebels, charges they deny.

The UN had also voiced concern over the increased fighting in the past week, warning that more than 80 percent of the population needs aid.

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According to the latest figures announced on Friday by Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 272 civilians were killed and 543 others sustained injuries between April 11 and August 11. The coalition has been accused by the United Nations and humanitarian organizations of indiscriminately bombing civilians and killing hundreds of children.

Airstrike kills 10 children in Yemen