SANAA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Houthis have blamed Saudi Arabia for airstrikes on a gas facility and an oil company building in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Tuesday, igniting fires and partially damaging nearby homes and shops.
The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said the Saudi strikes hit the Al-Mafzar gas station in the Bani al-Harith district, north of the Houthi-run capital, setting several gas tanker trailers ablaze. Civil defense teams were working to bring the fires under control, it said.
In a separate attack, warplanes struck a building belonging to the Yemen Petroleum Company, a state-owned firm operating under Houthi control that distributes and markets fuel, in the southern part of Sanaa. The airstrikes also damaged nearby homes and shops, the channel reported.
A local resident told Xinhua that the explosions shook nearby neighborhoods, partially damaging several houses and prompting families to leave their homes as fires continued to rage.
The full extent of the damage remained unclear, with no immediate reports of casualties. Saudi authorities had not immediately commented on the reported strikes.
The development came amid escalating hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with Houthis claiming repeated missile and drone strikes on Saudi airports, oil installations and military facilities, while the Saudi-led coalition has intensified airstrikes on Houthi-held areas.
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government. ■
