In a separate event, 135 other people were killed at a different wedding by the Saudi-led airstrikes.
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The air strike was purportedly carried out by a Saudi Arabia led coalition coordinated attack. “The house was completely destroyed”, Taha al-Zuba, a witness and local resident, said.
The rebels’ Almasirah television said on Twitter the wedding was targeted by the “bombing of aggression warplanes”, referring to the coalition. “No strikes there, definitely”. The incident, if confirmed, would be the third attack in the last two weeks that has killed civilians, recalling an airstrike that killed more than 130 people at a Yemeni wedding party on September 28.
It was the second time in little over a week that the coalition had denied allegations of bombing a wedding party.
In the past months, Yemeni army and pro-government forces backed by the coalition have succeeded in wresting control of a number of areas in Yemen from the Houthi rebels.
Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when Houthi militants overran the capital Sanaa from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.
The military official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media while witnesses in Sirwah declined to give their names for fear of reprisals.
Dujarric said Cheikh Ahmed believes the government, the Houthis and their allies should accept a United Nations invitation to join peace talks based on Security Council resolutions, an initiative by the Gulf Cooperation Council and the country’s National Dialogue.
The Houthi fighters, whose heartland is in the mountains of the far north, were only able to capture so much of the country because of the support of renegade troops still loyal to Hadi’s deposed predecessor, Ali Abullah Saleh.
Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) party also accepted the plan and reiterated in a statement on Tuesday its “fast position on ending hostilities and … on a peaceful solution to Yemen’s crisis”. “There must be an announcement of willingness to implement all articles of the (U.N.) resolution without any changes”.
It was unclear who was behind the assault however a Saudi-led coalition continues to be carrying out air raids against rebels that are Houthi.
“They struck a wedding, there were only civilians there and majority died because the Mokha hospital is closed because of supply – no drugs, no fuel, no electricity, no nothing, so the staff left”, Boucenine said.
The rebels too have come under heavy criticism from rights groups for “indiscriminate” shelling of civilian-populated areas.
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“It’s truly a missed opportunity”, said Philippe Dam of HRW.
