DUBAI – Yemeni Shia Muslim rebels have said Saudi air attacks on northern Yemen have a killed 54 people, many of them women and children.
The rebels, who often report attacks by Yemeni and Saudi fighter aircraft, said on their website that the strikes yesterday destroyed five houses in the town of Razeh, in mountainous Saada province where they are based.
The report could not be verified as aid workers and media have limited access to the conflict zones, and there was no immediate Saudi comment. Yemeni officials have previously denied that Saudi aircraft had carried out attacks on Yemen’s territory.
Last Sunday, the rebels had said at least 70 people were killed in a Saudi air raid on a market in Razeh. That attack could not be confirmed either.
Saudi Arabia, a US ally and the world’s largest oil exporter, fears the growing instability in neighbouring Yemen could turn into a major security threat for the kingdom by allowing al-Qaeda to gain a stronger foothold in the impoverished country.
Saudi Arabia began attacking Yemen’s Shia Muslim rebels, known as the Houthis, in early November after the rebels staged a cross-border incursion and killed two Saudi border guards.
The rebels, who launched a rebellion against the Yemeni government in 2004, belong to the minority Zaidi Shia sect and complain of social, economic and religious marginalisation. Both the rebels and the government deny their aims are sectarian.
A state-run website said rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was seriously wounded in a government attack which also killed a rebel military commander. The rebels did not directly comment on the report, but cautioned on their website against believing “imaginary victories which the regime’s media [report]”.
Besides fighting Shia rebels in the north, Yemen faces increasing unrest in the south and activity by al-Qaeda elements. – (Reuters)