Yemen: 'Saudi-led' airstrike on apartment block kills 12 people

APD NEWS

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Yemen's capital has been struck by a severe airstrike, killing 12 people, including six children.

The early morning attack on the Faj Attan area of Sanaa reduced an apartment block to rubble, and was blamed by witnesses on the Saudi-led military coalition.

It came days after the UN intervened to call for an investigation into a similar bombing on a hotel in the same city that killed at least 35 people.

The latest strike left apartments shattered as onlookers scrambled to retrieve bloodied, dust-covered victims. Some appeared younger than 10 years old.

The Saudi-led alliance says it is reviewing its operations

Saudi's military coalition was blamed for the bombing by its enemy, the Iran-backed Houthi movement.

They have been at war for two years in a conflict that has killed at least 10,000 people and displaced two million since 2015.

"The air force of the countries of the American-Saudi aggression carried out a hideous massacre against the citizens in Faj Attan," an official Houthi website said.

Witnesses said the strike did not target the apartment block where people were killed, but instead hit an empty building next to it that caused the flats to collapse.

The coalition said it was aware of the incident and would review all its operations in the region.

It added it was committed to protecting civilians and respecting international human rights law.

35 people died when a hotel was bombed in Sanaa

Sanaa, as well as much of the north of Yemen, is controlled by the Houthis and their allies.

But they are battling for control of the whole country against the internationally-recognised government, which is based in the south and supported by the Saudi-led coalition.

The UK and US provide arms to the alliance, which has proved controversial when airstrikes hit hospitals and ports.

"We remind all parties to the conflict, including the coalition, of their duty to ensure full respect for international humanitarian law," a UN human rights spokesperson said.

(SKYNEWS)