SANA, Yemen — Yemeni civilians shuddered in fear and bristled with anger under an intense Saudi-led bombing campaign against Shiite rebels Tuesday, day six of fighting that prompted international aid organizations to express alarm over high civilian casualties from the strikes and violence roiling the country.
Residents of the capital sought shelter and got little sleep during the night, while some took to the rooftops in anger or frustration, firing automatic rifles skyward toward the roar of warplanes.
Schools, universities and government offices were closed, along with most shops. Few cars ventured onto the mostly deserted streets.
“We haven’t slept — one child screams, and a second cries,” said Mustafa al-Ahmadi, a father of eight who said the family seeks shelter in their basement when close explosions rock the house. “Once it’s quiet, we return to our room. But the minute we step in, a second explosion rocks the house. So we return to the basement. This is how we spend the night, running back and forth.”
Late Tuesday, Yemeni military officials said the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, took up positions overlooking the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe, raising the risk they could threaten the key global shipping route with heavy weapons.
The campaign by the Saudi-led coalition, made up mainly of Sunni Arab states, aims to weaken the Iranian-allied Houthis, who have overrun much of the country with the help of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s loyalists and forced Yemen’s current president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to flee abroad.
The U.N. human rights office said that in the past five days, at least 93 civilians have been killed and 364 wounded in five Yemeni cities engulfed in the violence, including, Sana. The overall figures are likely much higher, and it was not immediately clear if the casualties cited by Geneva referred to just airstrikes or the strikes and fighting between Yemen’s warring factions. The Saudi-led coalition says rebels have set up positions near civilians but that it is doing its best to avoid civilian casualties.
