Houthi government strongly condemns US raid on Yemen

Yemen's dominant Houthi-run government strongly condemned a US raid on southern Yemeni province of Baida at dawn on Sunday that killed more than 30 people, mostly children and women, Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported, according to China's Xinhua news agency.

"The National Salvation Government strongly condemned the big crime that committed by the US marines on the residents of Qaifa town in Baida Province," Saba quoted a spokesman of the Houthi-run government as saying in a statement late Sunday.

"This crime is a form of state terrorism practised by the United States under the pretext of fighting terrorism," the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

At least nine women and six children, including the eight-year-old daughter of former al-Qaida leader Anwar Al-Awlaqi, were killed in the US raid on the village of Yakla within the Walad Rabie district in the town of Qaifa.

About 10 al-Qaida militants were also killed in the raid, according to local sources.

The United States has increased its military operations in Yemen since the civil war erupted in late 2014 after the Houthi militias, supported by Yemeni former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, seized power.

The National Organization for Drone Victims, the first of its kind in Yemen, said that in every US drone strike or anti-terror operation, there are civilian casualties.

The organisation documented 27 drone strikes in Yemen in 2016, which killed about 142 people including many civilians.

The drone strikes in 2016 were carried out in Marib, Shabwa, Abyan, Hadramout and Baida provinces, the organisation said. -- Bernama