Saudi Arabia said that its Air Force has intercepted two ballistic missiles fired at the kingdom by Yemen’s armed Houthi movement on Wednesday.
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The United Nations said it was alarmed at the resumption of air raids. In addition, the worldwide airport at Sana’a was shut by the airstrikes after Saudi coalition officials notified airlines that incoming flights would be barred for 72 hours.
The approval for land force equipment coincides with Saudi Arabia leading a military coalition in support of Yemeni forces loyal to the exiled government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who are trying to oust Iran-allied Houthi forces from the capital city Sanaa.
The civilians, who were working overnight shifts at a potato chip factory in the Nahda district, were killed following the disintegration of peace talks, according to medics.
“More than 20 workers were killed, not counting those that are still unaccounted for (because of) Al Saud (the Saudi ruling family), the Jews”, said Ali Mohammed, a factory worker.
He spoke of other strikes in the rebel strongholds of Saada, Hajja, and Ibb.
Officials said that the U.S. military on Thursday killed three Al-Qaeda operatives in a strike in Shabwa.
Coalition airstrikes and fighting on the ground had left more than 6,400 persons dead, the majority of which were civilians.
Assiri said the coalition had respected the truce for three months but had resumed operations because of increased violations by the rebels and the failure of the Kuwait talks. “Grisly crimes of the brutal Saudi aggression on Yemen”.
A spokesman for the coalition did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the air strikes or the closure of the airport.
Even as fresh civilian deaths were reported in a Saudi Arabian attack on Yemen, the Pentagon has approved the sale of up to 153 tanks, hundreds of machine guns and other military gear in a deal worth $1.15 billion to the country. “While the West urges the Saudi-led coalition to use all means possible to avoid civilian casualties, we must also be aware of the tactics the Iranian-backed rebels are using as part of a deliberate policy to discredit the coalition war effort”.
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“Children are paying the heaviest price of the conflict in Yemen”, the agency said in a statement.
