The rebels have claimed responsibility for the September 14 attacks on Saudi oil installations that knocked out half of the OPEC kingpin's production and sent shock waves through world energy markets. The United States and Saudi Arabia however blamed Iran, saying the strikes were carried out with advanced cruise missiles and drones. Tuesday's air strikes on Qatabah, in southern Yemen's Daleh province, partly controlled by the rebels, marked the first major attack believed to have been carried out by the coalition since the Huthis' offer.
"Sixteen people, including women and children, were killed and nine others injured" in a raid targeting a home in Daleh, a local official told AFP on condition of anonymity. A doctor at Al Thawra hospital in nearby Ibb province, which received the bodies of those killed, said seven children and four women were among them.
The Huthi rebels condemned the coalition for its "continued aggression" against the Yemeni people. "The aggressors do not understand the message of peace... but only messages of drones and of missile power," said a statement carried by the insurgents' Al-Masirah television. The coalition could not be immediately reached for comment.