Yemen 'peace initiative' still stands despite air strikes: rebels

SANAA: Yemen's Huthi rebels said on Wednesday their offer to halt all attacks on Saudi Arabia still stands despite new airstrikes allegedly launched by a Riyadh-led coalition fighting the insurgents.

Twenty-two civilians, including children, were killed in air raids earlier this week in Daleh and Amran provinces, the United Nations (UN) said.

The strikes came after the Iran-backed Huthis offered to halt drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to end a war that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

"The initiative is still on, and we are patient," Hisham Sharaf, the Huthis' foreign minister, told AFP.

"If they want peace, we are for peace. If they don't want peace, they know how we can hit them hard."

Seven children among 16 killed by air strikes in Yemen

The rebels have claimed responsibility for the September 14 attacks on Saudi oil installations that knocked out half of the OPEC kingpin's production and sent shock waves through world energy markets.

The United States (US) and Saudi Arabia, however, blamed Iran, saying the strikes were carried out with advanced cruise missiles and drones.

According to the UN, seven civilians including women and children from the same family were killed when airstrikes hit a mosque on Monday in the rebel-held northern province of Amran.

The next day, 15 people including seven children were killed in raids on southern Daleh province, partly controlled by the insurgents.

UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said Wednesday the strikes were "yet another heartbreaking event".

He urged all parties "to take tangible and quick steps to reduce the violence, respect international humanitarian law and allow for a conducive environment for Yemen to return to a political process without delay".

Yemen pounded by war for five years

The strikes marked the first major attack believed to have been carried out by the coalition since the Huthis' offer.

Sharaf said the rebels would give the Saudi-led coalition more time.

"We find that they're trying to distract the whole world from our initiative by launching these airstrikes," he said.

"We will give them time even if they're killing our people."

Tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government after the rebels captured the capital Sanaa.

The fighting has displaced millions and left more than two-thirds of the population in need of aid.

The United Nations has described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.