Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition pounded Shia rebels across three Yemeni cities on Friday, as Riyadh reported the death of a Saudi child from cross-border fire. The coalition has stepped up raids on positions held by the Houthi Shia rebels and their allies since a humanitarian ceasefire ended late on Tuesday. The latest violence came as the UN's human rights agency said that at least 1,037 civilians have been killed in Yemen since the start of the air campaign on March 26.
Spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly said 234 children and 134 women were among the dead and that 2,453 people were wounded over the past eight weeks in a war that has heavily damaged infrastructure. Huge explosions rocked the outskirts of the capital Sanaa after Friday's air strikes. There were also raids on second city Aden in the south and Marib province east of the capital, residents said.
"It was a morning of terror," one resident of a southern suburb of Sanaa told AFP after a wave of attacks on military bases in the Dhabwa and Rimat Hamid areas. In north Sanaa, coalition warplanes targeted a stadium and a camp of the Republican Guards loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has sided with the Houthis. In all, 10 rebel and allied targets were hit in and around Sanaa, including Dalaimi air base near the international airport, witnesses said.