Warplanes from Saudi-led coalition hit Yemeni capital

International news agencies report that warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition have bombed a Houthi military position and army bases in the Yemeni capital Sanaa earlier today.

The airstrikes are thought to be further retaliation against Yemen's dominant group for the killing of dozens of coalition soldiers two days ago.

Bombs hit troops loyal to Houthi ally and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a Houthi base in a Muslim Brotherhood religious school in northern Sanaa. Residents said explosions could be heard all night and buildings had been reduced to rubble but there were no immediate reports of casualties as most people in the area had been evacuated.

The al-Sabeen maternity and children's hospital said it had also sustained damage, with its patients trapped inside by the bombardment. It appealed to international organisations to assist in evacuating patients. "The hospital had been badly damaged due to the bombardment of areas around it, which resulted in damage to various facilities," one Houthi-run state news agency quoted a hospital statement as saying.

The Saudi-led coalition has said that it does not target civilian facilities.

Local medical sources report that on Saturday, at least 24 members of two families were killed in Sanaa in an air raid targeting Houthi positions in the city. The death toll had risen to 27 by Sunday, according to hospital officials.

Last Friday, a Houthi attack on a weapons depot in Marib claimed the lives of 60 soldiers from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi and Yemen.

It was the heaviest toll suffered by the Saudi-led alliance since air strikes began in March to try to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power after the Houthis marched on his main base in the southern port city of Aden. Hadi’s supporters had been massing troops and military hardware in preparation for an assault on Sanaa.

United Arab Emirates forces were instrumental in driving the Houthis and their allies out of Aden, hailed as a great victory for the Arab coalition and Hadi's supporters.