Yemen rebels accuse Saudi forces of killing 54 people

December 21, 2009 The Yemeni rebels of the Shi'ite Zaidi group have accused Saudi armed forces of killing 54 people in air strikes on a town in northern Yemen. The group stated warplanes carried out the raids yesterday, destroying five houses in the town of Razeh in the mountainous Saada province. They added that women and children were among the dead.

"The town of al-Nadeer was targeted by air-strikes and 54 civilians, including women and children, were killed," said a spokesman for the group, to the Agence France-Presse news agency. They also posted additional information about the alleged attacks on their website.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the allegations, and, because the media and aid workers have limited access to the area, there has been no independent confirmation of the incident.

Saudi forces launched an offensive against the rebels, also known as Houthis, last month after the rebels killed two Saudi guards in a cross-border raid.