Riyadh: Saudi Arabia suffered its worst civilian death toll Tuesday in cross-border shelling from Yemen.
A rocket fired by rebels in Yemen killed seven civilians in Najran city in the highest reported number of non-combattant casualties in the kingdom’s south since the Arab coalition intervened in Yemen 17 months ago.
“It killed four citizens and three residents,” the civil defence spokesman in Najran city said of the rocket strike, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The coalition began its bombing campaign in March last year after Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels seized large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sana’a.
It stepped up air strikes this month after UN-mediated peace talks between the rebels and Yemen’s internationally backed government were suspended.
The coalition’s spokesman accused the Al Houthis of using the three months of negotiations to rearm.
“They were deceiving people by this negotiation, to re-organise their force, re-supplying their forces and getting back to fighting,” Brigadier General Ahmad Assiri said.
He said the coalition would do “whatever it takes” to restore security in Yemen.
Coalition strikes on Tuesday struck Abs, Saada and areas surrounding Sana’a, military sources and residents said.
The coalition resumed raids on Sana’a on August 9, almost three days after the talks were suspended, with one strike reportedly hitting a food factory.
That forced the closure of Sana’a airport, but its director said three flights - carrying World Food Programme (WFP) and Red Cross employees as well as humanitarian aid - landed on Tuesday.
The Sana’a-based civil aviation authority Tuesday said passenger flights to the airport remained suspended.
