Saudi strike in Yemen kills 33 including women and children, 39 injured

Thirty-three people have been killed in a Saudi Arabian air strike on a village near Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. Another 39 people were injured. Most of those killed were women and children, according to a Reuters report.

The Houthi-run news agency Saba reported the information yesterday, Saturday. It is believed to be one of the deadliest strikes since fighting resumed in July between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the incident.

Saudi Arabia's Center for International Communication said it was investigating the report of the strike.

The Houthi-run health ministry said several houses were struck in the town of Bani Hushayesh, east of Sanaa, known as a Houthi stronghold. Most of those killed were women and children.

Abdul Aziz al-Dailami, director of Sanaa's Sehatuna Hospital, said many people remain trapped under the rubble, including rescue workers. He said, "One strike after another keeps coming. As soon as rescuers reach the scene, another strike hits. Even some of our own medical staff have lost their lives. They have been martyred."

The director added, "We have received several seriously injured people. They have injuries to their heads, chests and legs. Some have broken bones."

The ceasefire brokered by the United Nations in 2022 has effectively collapsed amid the renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. That ceasefire had largely halted tit-for-tat strikes between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi group that controls Sanaa.

Since the ceasefire broke down, the Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks targeting airports and oil installations across Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, meanwhile, has carried out air strikes in Yemen in support of its allies there.

Fighting in Yemen has flared up again as the wider conflict between the United States and Iran has spread. The complex war, now in its 12th year, has intensified once more. It has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and effectively fragmented the poorest country in the Arab world.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in October that the number of displaced people in Yemen has risen past 200,000 since the latest round of fighting began.