15 killed as Saudi-led planes pound Sanaa

Air raids by Saudi-led coalition warplanes killed 15 people in Yemen's capital in one of the heaviest nights of bombardment in months, aid workers and witnesses said yesterday.

One rescuer told AFP that at least 10 civilians were among the dead.

"Ten members of the same family were killed in the Al-Falihi neighbourhood, in Sanaa's old town," he said.

Residents said four houses were destroyed by a bomb and that 15 other buildings were damaged in the strikes.

Witnesses said five Iran-backed Huthi rebels were killed in a raid on their position in the capital, which the Shia fighters seized unopposed last year.

A Saudi-led coalition has conducted air strikes on rebel positions across Yemen since March and has provided troops, training and heavy weapons to forces seeking to reinstate the government of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Residents of Sanaa's Al-Hassaba neighbourhood said coalition jets conducted several sorties overnight, targeting an interior ministry building and a police station.

A residence of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose forces have allied with the Huthis, was also bombed, as well as an office of his political party, according to residents.

The insurgents still control the capital but have lost ground in the south since July when the coalition sent in armour, troops and Yemeni fighters trained in Saudi Arabia.