YEMEN (Web Desk) – At least 13 people were killed on Tuesday in the first air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition on a food factory in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, residents said, as the head of the U.N. expressed concern about the escalation in the fighting.
Factory director Abdullah al-Aqel gave a higher toll of 16 killed and 10 wounded, adding that all the victims were workers.
Medics put the death toll at 13. Most of the casualties were women working at the al-Aqel potato chip factory in the Nahda district of the capital.
Residents said the factory was inside an army maintenance camp that had been hit by repeated air strikes since fighting began in March last year.
The Houthi-run news agency has put the death toll at seven, including five women, and said 13 people were injured.
Fighting has intensified since U.N.-sponsored peace talks between the Houthis, backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the internationally recognized government ended on Saturday without an agreement.
