Saudi-led air strike on Yemen rebel bastion kills 23

Sources say strike targeted a munitions factory in Saqayn near Saada

SANAA: A Saudi-led air strike on a Houthi rebels stronghold in Yemen's northern mountains killed 23 people early on Saturday, tribal sources said.

The strike targeted a munitions factory in Saqayn, near Saada, the sources said.

Coalition aircraft also bombed the rebel-held capital Sanaa, targeting an arms warehouse and the air defence headquarters, witnesses said.

Read: Drone strike kills four 'Qaeda militants' in Yemen

The coalition launched air strikes against the rebels in March, after the Huthis seized control of much of the country prompting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to take refuge in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, a Saudi and a Kuwaiti were among four suspected al Qaeda members killed by an American drone strike in southeastern Yemen, a local official had said on July 3.

Read: Saudi-led air strikes target Houthi bastion in Yemen's Saada province

The dawn strike targeted their car as it left the base of the 27th Mechanised Brigade in the Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla, the official told AFP.

Fighters from the extremist group had seized the camp from forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in April, consolidating their grip on Mukalla.

They have exploited months of fighting between Hadi loyalists and Houthi rebels to consolidate their grip on Yemen’s southeast.