CAIRO — The Saudi-led military coalition resumed its bombing campaign over Yemen’s capital, Sana, early Tuesday, and there were immediate reports of civilian deaths.
Medical officials in Sana said the dead included nine employees of a potato chip factory, according to local news reports. The international airport in Sana was closed by the airstrikes for 72 hours starting Monday evening, Reuters reported. Other news accounts Tuesday reported a death toll of 14.
It was the first time in five months that Sana had been bombed by warplanes from the coalition, which also includes Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and other Middle Eastern countries. It came after peace talks collapsed Saturday between the Houthi militias that dominate the capital and the largely exiled government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, which is backed by the coalition and Western powers.
Numerous violations of the cease-fire agreement, including airstrikes in some areas, had been reported on both sides.
But while peace talks were underway, the capital has largely been spared the sort of heavy bombing that characterized the early stages of the Saudi-led intervention, which began in 2015.
The coalition launched airstrikes in the Nehm district, northeast of Sana, on Sunday, and there were reports that 18 civilians had been killed there.
Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, could not be reached for comment Monday or Tuesday.
On Monday, a spokesman for the Yemeni military, Samer al-Haj, speaking by telephone from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, said that coalition and Yemeni government forces had begun an offensive to oust the Houthis from Sana, adding that only military action would persuade the Houthis to come to terms.
The Houthi militias, who the Saudis believe are supported by Iran, control most of Yemen, including its most populated areas. Hadi’s allies control the southern port city of Aden and some other areas in the south.
The Houthi-controlled news agency Saba reported that Saudi warplanes had struck 18 targets throughout Sana province since Monday. It also said that Houthi forces had retaliated with artillery and missile strikes on the Saudi provinces of Jazan and Aseer, along Yemen’s northern border.
The war in Yemen has gone on for 15 months, claiming more than 6,500 lives and provoking a humanitarian crisis.