Airstrikes kill scores in attack on Yemen army compound, says Houthi media

Saudi-led airstrikes killed at least 44 people during an air raid on the main headquarters of the Yemeni army in central Sanaa on Sunday, the Houthi-run state news agency Saba said.

The agency said that more than 100 others, including civilians, were wounded in the attack, which also destroyed private houses in the Tahrir district in central Sanaa.

Residents said that four explosions shook the compound, where soldiers allied with the Iranian-backed Houthi group that dominates Yemen had gathered since Saturday evening to get their paychecks. "More than 44 citizens were martyred," the agency said.

The agency quoted a source at the Health Ministry as saying that rescue teams were working to find people believed to be still under the rubble of houses destroyed by the raids.

The escalation of the violence came despite progress toward convening United Nations–backed peace talks this month in Geneva. The exiled Yemeni government in Riyadh and the Houthis have agreed to attend the talks, which start June 14.

The United Nations' special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was in Oman for talks with the Omani minister of state for foreign affairs, preparing for the Geneva meeting, Omani state news agency ONA reported Saturday. Oman mediated efforts to convene the Geneva talks.

Saudi-led forces have been pounding the Houthis since March 26 in a campaign aimed at restoring President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

Residents said Saudi-led aircraft also targeted other military camps east and west of the capital, but there was no immediate word on casualties.

On Saturday the Houthis and their army allies fired a Scud missile into Saudi Arabia; Houthi media and Saudi Arabia said it was shot down.

It was the first reported use of a ballistic missile in the conflict. Saudi Arabia's military said it targeted the city of Khamees Mushait in the country's southwest and was intercepted by two Patriot missiles.

Airstrikes and shelling after the attack killed 38 Yemenis in provinces near Saudi Arabia, according to Saba reports, which could not be immediately confirmed.

The use of the ballistic missile followed an assault by units of soldiers loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Houthi fighters on the border with Saudi Arabia at Al-Khouba. Dozens of rebels and four Saudi soldiers were killed in the clash Friday.

The conflict has killed more than 2,000 people so far, about of half of whom were civilians, according to the World Health Organization.

Al Jazeera and Reuters