Sanaa, July 13 (IANS) At least 21 civilians were killed and 45 others injured on Monday when Saudi-led airstrikes struck a residential neighbourhood in Yemen’s capital city of Sanaa.
According to sources, the warplanes destroyed nine houses in Sawan area, Xinhua news agency reported.
Medics at the scene said “21 bodies, mostly women and children, were pulled from under the rubble, while 45 others were wounded and moved to hospitals”.
Saudi-led coalition forces continued airstrikes, as ground fighting between Houthi and pro-government fighters raged across the country despite a UN-brokered humanitarian ceasefire.
It is the third day of the temporary truce that took effect on Friday and is due to last through to the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on July 17.
However, the truce, aimed at facilitating aid deliveries to more than 21 million people in Yemen, was breached by all warring parties.
The Saudi-led coalition has been bombing the Shia Houthis and their allied forces since March 26 in a bid to reinstate the rule of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
According to the UN human rights agencies, more than three months into the Saudi-led air campaign, over 3,000 Yemenis have been killed, mostly civilians, and over 13,000 others wounded, while more than a million people have fled their homes.