Sanaa: The Houthis have blamed Saudi Arabia for airstrikes on a gas facility and an oil company building in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Tuesday, igniting fires and partially damaging nearby homes and shops.
The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said the Saudi strikes hit the Al-Mafzar gas station in the Bani al-Harith district, north of the Houthi-run capital, setting several gas tanker trailers ablaze. Civil defence teams were working to bring the fires under control, it said.
In a separate attack, warplanes struck a building belonging to the Yemen Petroleum Company, a state-owned firm operating under Houthi control that distributes and markets fuel, in the southern part of Sanaa. The airstrikes also damaged nearby homes and shops, the channel reported.
A local resident told Xinhua that the explosions shook nearby neighbourhoods, partially damaging several houses and prompting families to leave their homes as fires continued to rage.
The full extent of the damage remained unclear, with no immediate reports of casualties. Saudi authorities had not immediately commented on the reported strikes.
The development came amid escalating hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with Houthis claiming repeated missile and drone strikes on Saudi airports, oil installations and military facilities, while the Saudi-led coalition has intensified airstrikes on Houthi-held areas, Xinhua News Agency reported.
At least 11 people were killed Saturday in airstrikes on a village near Yemen’s capital Sanaa, al-Masirah TV reported, blaming Saudi warplanes for the attacks amid escalating hostilities in the war-torn country.
The airstrikes destroyed five residential houses in Ash Sharyah village in Bani Hushaysh district, east of Sanaa, with women and children among the dead, according to the channel.
The head of the district’s health office told al-Masirah that rescue teams had recovered 11 bodies from the rubble, adding that the death toll remained preliminary as search and recovery operations continued.
The channel also reported that Saudi warplanes launched two additional airstrikes targeting rescue workers and struck roads leading to the village, while military aircraft continued to fly over the area.
(IANS)
