Over 100 people killed in Saudi-led strikes on site in Yemen - report

Over 100 people are believed to be killed as a result of airstrikes by Saudi-led coalition on a site in Yemen on Sunday, AFP news agency reported citing ICRC.

The site where the airstrikes occured is being debated. The Saudi-led coalition said it had launched airstrikes on Houthi military targets in southwest Yemen whereas the Houthis said the site where the coalition launched strikes was a prison near Dhamar city.

The Sunni Muslim coalition, which has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for more than four years in Yemen, said in a statement carried on Saudi state television that it destroyed a site storing drones and missiles in Dhamar.

Reuters reported citing the residents that there had been six airstrikes and that a complex in the city being used as a detention center had been hit.

#BREAKING More than 100 believed killed in coalition air strike in Yemen: ICRC pic.twitter.com/cgU7OiIms9

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 1, 2019

The Western-backed alliance intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthis after they ousted the internationally recognized government from power in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014. The movement, which holds most major population centers in the Arabian peninsula nation, has stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent months. The Saudi-led alliance has responded with strikes on Houthi targets.

The United Nations is trying to ease tension in Yemen to prepare for political negotiations to end the war that has killed tens of thousands and pushed the long-impoverished country to the brink of famine. The conflict is widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis, who deny being puppets of Tehran, say they are fighting a corrupt system.

(With inputs from agencies)