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Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Dozens killed in Sanaa after bombardment of missile base
Residents said the explosions sent shockwaves across the city with civilians fleeing from their homes in the aftermath.
At least 46 people have been killed in the Yemeni capital after Saudi-led air strikes targeted a suspected weapons base held by Houthi fighters.
Health officials told Al Jazeera on Monday that more than 300 people were wounded when warplanes reportedly struck a Scud missile base in Faj Attan, a district in western Sanaa, that sparked a series of explosions.
Thick black smoke billowed into the sky as scores of nearby houses and vehicles were destroyed leaving the streets littered with debris.
"It was like the doors of hell opened,'' resident Mohammed Sarhan told the Associated Press news agency.
"I felt the house lift up and fall," he said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said it was summoning Saudi Arabia's envoy to Tehran after windows at its embassy were shattered by the blast.
Indonesia, whose embassy is nearby, also condemned the strikes.
"Several diplomatic staff were injured in the air strike. It also damaged the embassy building and all vehicles belonging to the embassy," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.
Riyadh Yassine, Yemen's foreign minister, said Gulf countries would launch a large reconstruction project to rebuild the country after the conflict had ended.
The targeted base belonged to the missile brigade of the elite Republican Guard, an army unit which was loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who was forced to step down in 2012 after a wave of protests against his rule.
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