Air strike kills 16 members of Yemeni imam's family

SANAA: At least 16 members of the extended family of a Yemeni mosque imam were killed on Wednesday in an air strike on their family home in northern Yemen by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, a Reuters witness, a medic and a resident said.

They said missiles struck a house of the imam, identified as Saleh Abu Zainah, in northern Saada province. The imam, his family, his two sons and their families all died in the attack, they said.

Smoke and debris rise from the site of a Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa, Yemen August 31, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

It was the latest in a series of raids by the coalition, which is providing air support to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in his fight against Iran-allied Houthis who have seized much of the country since 2014. Pictures taken by a Reuters photographer showed men digging up the body of a child from under the rubble.



"The air raid happened in the morning and because the house was made of mud, it took us until noon to be able to dig the bodies out," said Nayef, a resident who helped remove the rubble to recover the bodies.

A medic said rescue workers were concerned about fresh air strikes when they arrived at the scene and found aircraft still hovering overhead.