At least 44 people killed in air strike near Yemeni capital, Houthi rebels say

The death toll from air strikes near Yemen’s capital has increased to 44, most of them women and children, health authorities from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said overnight.

The strikes on the village of Al-Shariya, east of Sanaa, wounded 40 others, including eight children and nine women, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run Health Ministry. The dead included 21 children and 10 women, he said, making the strikes one of the deadliest attacks in the latest bout of violence in Yemen’s year-long civil war.

Al-Asbahi said rescue teams were still searching the area for missing people, raising fears that the death toll could rise.