Coalition Air Strikes Hit Yemen Defense Ministry in Sanaa

Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition on Thursday hit Yemen's defense ministry in the capital Sanaa which is controlled by Shiite rebels and allied troops, witnesses said.

Three explosions were heard as warplanes hit the building in central Sanaa and thick smoke billowed over the area, the witnesses said.

The attack was part of raids that struck positions across the capital, including a base of the elite Republican Guards in Fajj Attan, in south Sanaa, according to witnesses.

The Republican Guard is a force that has remained loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 following nationwide protests against his three-decade rule and who is allied with the Huthi rebels against the government.

A food supply building belonging to the army in western Sanaa was also targeted in an air raid, other witnesses said.

Earlier in the day, a base for the Republican Guard in Arhab, north of the capital, was also hit.

The attacks come as the an air campaign led by Riyadh in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi entered its third week.

Earlier, at least 20 Shiite Huthi rebels were killed in southern Yemen Thursday by Saudi-led coalition air strikes and an ambush by pro-government militia, army and loyalist militia sources said.

"Fourteen Huthis were killed in eight dawn air raids by the coalition on their positions near Dar Saad," a northern district of the port city of Aden, a loyalist army source told AFP.

In the nearby city of Daleh, fighters allied with fugitive President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi attacked a Huthi position, killing six militants, said Southern Movement chief Nasser al-Shuaibi.

AFP could not immediately obtain independent confirmation, and the Huthis rarely acknowledge their losses.

Meanwhile, coalition air strikes on the southern Shabwa province hit Muhra military camp, which is controlled by troops loyal to Saleh.

Following the raid, some 300 fighters fled the base and deployed unopposed in the provincial capital of Ataq, where they raised Huthi flags after seizing local government and police installations, military sources said.

Witnesses said tribesmen led by chief Hasan Banan, who is close to the Huthis, have cooperated with the rebels.

The World Health Organization says at least 643 people were killed and 2,226 wounded in fighting between March 19 and April 6.

And UNICEF has said at least 74 children were confirmed to have died and a further were 44 wounded since air strikes began on March 26.