Death toll from US airstrikes on Yemen's capital rises to 12

Sanaa, April 29 (IANS) The death toll from Sunday's overnight US airstrikes on three houses in Yemen's capital Sanaa rose to 12, with 4 others injured, Houthi-controlled health authorities said in astatement.

The toll included women and children, the statement said.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported 15 airstrikes throughout Monday, targeting several locations across northern Yemeni provinces, including the capital Sanaa.

Meanwhile, casualties from US dawn strikes on a migrant centre in the northern province of Saada have risen to 68, all of them undocumented African migrants, according to the Houthi television.

The US military was reportedly investigating the incident, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier dozens of people were wounded, according to initial estimates, as rescuers continue to search for survivors beneath the rubble of three houses bombed by US fighter jets in the Bani Al-Harith district in northern Sanaa, the authorities said.

Tensions between the Houthi group and the US military have sharply risen since Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen on March 15. The strikes were intended to deter the Houthis from targeting Israel and international shipping in the Red and Arabian Seas.

The Houthi group has been controlling much of northern Yemen since a civil war in Yemen broke out in late 2014. Tensions between the Houthis and US forces have escalated sharply since March 15, when Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, a campaign criticised by many regional governments as a threat to wider stability.

--IANS

int/rs