39 dead in Saudi-led Yemen strikes: health officials

Witnesses say three air strikes hit presidential compound in south Sanaa at dawn which rebels seized last month

SANAA: At least 39 civilians have been killed in more than 24 hours of Saudi-led air strikes against Shia rebels in Yemen, health ministry officials said on Friday.

Twelve of the victims died when a raid against a military base north of the capital Sanaa hit surrounding residential areas, officials from the rebel-controlled ministry told AFP.

Witnesses said warplanes targeted Al Samaa base, which is used by army units believed to take orders from their former commander Ahmed Ali Saleh.

Saleh is the son of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is accused of allying with the Huthi rebels against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

At dawn on Friday, three air strikes hit the presidential compound in south Sanaa which the rebels seized last month, witnesses said.

They also bombed a Huthi-controlled army brigade in Amran province, north of the capital, and arms depots in the rebel stronghold of Saada further north, residents said.

Overnight raids targeted another army brigade loyal to Saleh in the eastern province of Marib, tribal sources said.

A military official told AFP that on Thursday Saudi-led coalition jets also bombed a large arms depot in a third army camp used by forces loyal to the former strongman.

The official spoke of "dozens" of casualties at the camp, located in Sanaa's southern outskirts, but the information could not be independently verified.

In central Sanaa, an anti-aircraft missile wounded eight people, one of them seriously, when it exploded in a market on Friday, a day after it was fired by Huthi fighters, a security official said.

According to residents, dozens of vehicles carrying anti-aircraft missiles have been continuously circling the capital's neighbourhoods since the Saudi-led raids began.