SANAA – More than 140 people were killed and more than 525 wounded Saturday when air strikes hit a funeral ceremony in Yemen, a United Nations official said, with Huthi rebels blaming the attack on the Saudi-led coalition.
The coalition, which has come under increasing international scrutiny over alleged civilian deaths, denied any responsibility for the attack.
‘‘The toll is very high: More than 520 wounded and more than 100 martyrs,’’ the spokesman of the health ministry in Sanaa, Tamim al-Shami, told rebel Almasirah television.
It was one of the deadliest attacks since the coalition launched a bombing campaign against the Shiite Huthis in March 2015.
Riyadh’s key ally Washington promptly warned it had launched an ‘‘immediate review’’ of support to the Saudi-led coalition, and that its security cooperation with Saudi Arabia was ‘‘not a blank check.’’
The UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, said aid workers were ‘‘shocked and outraged’’ by the attacks that hit a community hall in the capital Sanaa where mourners had gathered.
He called for an immediate investigation and said the international community must exert pressure to ensure civilians are protected. (AFP)
