At least three women and six children from the same family have been killed in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on their home in northern Yemen, according to a local health official.
Dr Abdel-Ilah al-Azzi, the head of the local health department, said on Friday that three other people were also injured in the attack at dawn on the family home of Taha al-Dharafi in Mahda district on the south-western outskirts of Saada city.
“We are recording all the crimes of the enemy and we will not forget them,” he said. “All the criminals will be put on trial soon, God willing.”
A relative, who declined to be identified, said the attack happened while the family slept.
Their bodies were taken to the morgue while rescue workers continued to search for a missing woman in the rubble of the house.
Pictures from the scene showed the house completely destroyed by the strike. Residents who rushed to the scene were afraid to start rescue work while aircraft hovered overhead.
A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not respond to Reuters news agency’s request for a comment.
The coalition says it does not target civilians.
SABA, an official news agency controlled by the Houthi rebel group, said that a second air strike on a car carrying civilians killed at least three people and wounded seven.
Yemen has been torn apart by a war, in which the exiled government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is trying to roll back gains made by the Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
Saada, a Houthi stronghold, has been repeatedly hit by Saudi-led air strikes since the coalition of Arab states joined the war in March 2015.
