Officials say missiles fired by Saudi-led coalition hit Houthi leader’s mosque and a school run by the Iranian-backed group
A missile attack on a mosque and a religious school run by the Iranian-backed Houthi group has killed and injured 29 Yemeni civilians, the country’s information minister has said.
Mohammed Abdel Salam said an explosive-laden missile fired by the Saudi-led coalition hit a mosque in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on Friday.
“The attack killed and injured 29 civilians in the same area of Shabelle, an area where the Houthis typically run their religious schools,” Abdel Salam said in a statement.
He said the attack was aimed at trying to “destabilise the situation” in Sana’a, but did not give a specific reason for the strike.
Abdel Salam was quoted as saying the missiles did not cause any fatalities among schoolchildren at the school, which was also attacked.
“The coalition certainly has no respect for human life. This attack is a clear message to the Yemeni population that it is going to act like this whenever there is an opportunity.”
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Abdel Salam was referring to previous attacks in Sana’a that have targeted Houthi leaders, funerals and religious gatherings.
Houthi officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
In October 2015, a missile strike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a Houthi-run mosque in Sana’a, killing 19 people.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s war in March 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis pushed the internationally recognised government out of the capital and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to the southern port city of Aden.
Yemen is at the centre of a tussle for regional influence between Saudi Arabia and Iran, an arch-rival of Riyadh and Tehran.