Yemenis in Sanaa mourn dozens killed in strike blamed on Saudi Arabia

Large crowds gathered in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday to mourn the deaths of dozens of people including children, killed last week in strikes blamed on Saudi Arabia.

Mourners prayed at the Mosque of the People in Sanaa, renamed by the Iran-backed Houthis after they took over the capital, chanting "death to America! Death to Israel!" according to an AFP photographer present.

Men and boys in white and brown-olive robes, some bearing rifles and traditional daggers, stood by the coffins near the mosque. Draped in white cloth, the caskets bore the photographs and names of those killed, including those of children.

The Houthis said a Saudi strike on Saturday hit the village of al-Shariya, outside the capital, killing 44 people, including 21 children, while 40 people were injured.

The group's Almasirah television reported another strike as emergency personnel headed to the site to dig out survivors. AFP could not verify the claim.

They are among the latest casualties of a resumption in fighting that began over the summer, which the UN says has killed more than 1,600 people and displaced more than 300,000 in Yemen.

After prayers, the funeral procession took the bodies to al-Shariya in Sanaa province for burial.

In the village, residents mourned their friends and relatives, with many breaking into tears.

Earlier this week, resident Daifallah Sarhan, a farmer, told AFP "they were all innocent... People were simply having a meal with their families and children" when the strikes hit.

In July, a fragile 2022 truce fell apart after the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane to land in Sanaa in defiance of Saudi control over Yemeni airspace, setting off a spate of attacks.

Later, the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships, territory and oil facilities, before seizing Yemen's entire Red Sea coast in a lightning campaign.

The group has in turn reported frequent Saudi airstrikes.

Twenty-six people have been killed in Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia since hostilities resumed.

Yemen has been reeling from war since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, with a Saudi-led coalition entering the conflict a year later in support of the government.