OMM Newsroom
A mass funeral procession took place in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday for at least 43 people allegedly killed in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition, according to “CNN”, citing the Houthi-run Saba news agency.
Saba said the victims died in a Saturday strike on six homes in Al-Shariya, a village east of Sanaa. The agency reported that 21 children and 10 women were among those killed.
Footage shown by Houthi-run “Masirah TV” depicted large crowds gathered at a cemetery, where men carrying rifles were seen digging graves. Before the funeral, the channel published graphic images of children lying motionless, whom Houthi authorities said had been killed in the strike. It said the attack involved three consecutive raids that also hit ambulance crews and rescue workers.
“CNN” said it had contacted the Saudi government and the Saudi-led coalition for comment.
Fighting between the Houthis and the coalition resumed in July, ending a 2022 UN-brokered ceasefire that had brought years of relative calm. The renewed fighting followed an attack by Saudi-backed forces on Sanaa Airport, aimed at preventing a Houthi plane arriving from Iran.
Houthi forces retaliated with an offensive, capturing territory along Yemen’s western coast and near the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a key trade route. The latest reported strike comes as casualties rise amid a conflict that has caused a severe humanitarian crisis.
As of Tuesday, casualties in Yemen since October 31 had reached 11,755, including 2,098 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The organization’s figures showed that the daily average had increased considerably this month.
On Wednesday, Yemen’s Houthi-controlled parliament urged United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to intervene as fighting intensified. It claimed that hundreds of Saudi airstrikes over the previous five days had killed or wounded more than 300 people, most of them children, women and elderly people. “CNN” said it had not independently verified the figure.
The Houthi-run Health Ministry said on Wednesday that at least 359 civilians had been killed and 780 wounded in what it described as the latest Saudi escalation, adding that most were women and children.
The Houthi armed forces said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia had carried out 93 airstrikes and missile attacks over the previous 24 hours, targeting sites including civilian and energy infrastructure in areas under Houthi control.
The Houthis have also continued to target Saudi infrastructure, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and oil facilities. In October, two consecutive attacks on the airport killed at least 20 people and wounded hundreds more.
On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted two drones over Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. On Thursday, it said it intercepted another drone over Riyadh. The Houthis denied targeting Mecca and called the coalition’s claim “another lie”.
Over the weekend, a building belonging to Saudi oil company “Aramco” in Riyadh’s financial district was damaged in a missile attack.
