<p class="bodytext">Strikes on Yemen's largest airbase Sunday killed at least 30 pro-government troops and wounded scores more, said medical and loyalist sources who blamed Iran-backed Huthi rebels for the attack.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The strikes were carried out on Al-Anad airbase, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Yemen's second city Aden in the south of the conflict-riven country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The airbase served as the headquarters for US troops overseeing a long-running drone war against Al-Qaeda until March 2014 when it was overrun by the Huthi rebels.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"More than 30 have been killed and at least 56 were injured" in the strikes on the airbase in the government-held southern province of Lahij, armed forces spokesman Mohammed al-Naqib told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Video footage from the scene showed dozens of people gathered in front of Lahij hospital, where one ambulance after another was pulling up to drop off casualties.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An official from the hospital said it was all hands on deck.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have called on the entire staff, surgeons and nurses, to come in," Mohsen Murshid told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We also know that there are still bodies under the rubble".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Naqib had in an earlier statement accused Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels of carrying out missile and drone strikes on the facility.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was no immediate comment from the rebel side.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A military medic confirmed the death toll after it jumped from seven fatalities earlier in the day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Yemen's internationally recognised government -- backed by a Saudi-led military coalition -- and the Huthis have been locked in war since 2014, when the insurgents seized the capital Sanaa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 2019, the Huthis said they launched a drone strike on Al-Anad during a military parade, with medics and government sources saying that at least six loyalists were killed -- including a high-ranking intelligence official.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Eleven people were wounded in that attack, including Yemen's deputy chief of staff Major General Saleh al-Zandani who later died of his injuries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Al-Anad was recaptured by government forces in August 2015 as they recovered territory from the rebels across the south with support from the Saudi-led coalition.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sunday's incident is one of the deadliest since December 2020, when blasts targeting cabinet members rocked Aden airport.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At the time, at least 26 people, including three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a journalist, were killed and scores wounded in the explosions as ministers disembarked from an aircraft in the southern city.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Yemen's grinding conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, resulting in what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Some 80 percent of Yemen's 19-million strong population are dependent on some form of aid for survival.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While the UN is pushing for an end to the war, the Huthis have demanded the re-opening of Sanaa airport, closed under a Saudi blockade since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The incoming UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, will officially assume his duties on September 5.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Strikes on Yemen's largest airbase Sunday killed at least 30 pro-government troops and wounded scores more, said medical and loyalist sources who blamed Iran-backed Huthi rebels for the attack.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The strikes were carried out on Al-Anad airbase, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Yemen's second city Aden in the south of the conflict-riven country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The airbase served as the headquarters for US troops overseeing a long-running drone war against Al-Qaeda until March 2014 when it was overrun by the Huthi rebels.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"More than 30 have been killed and at least 56 were injured" in the strikes on the airbase in the government-held southern province of Lahij, armed forces spokesman Mohammed al-Naqib told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Video footage from the scene showed dozens of people gathered in front of Lahij hospital, where one ambulance after another was pulling up to drop off casualties.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An official from the hospital said it was all hands on deck.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have called on the entire staff, surgeons and nurses, to come in," Mohsen Murshid told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We also know that there are still bodies under the rubble".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Naqib had in an earlier statement accused Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels of carrying out missile and drone strikes on the facility.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There was no immediate comment from the rebel side.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A military medic confirmed the death toll after it jumped from seven fatalities earlier in the day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Yemen's internationally recognised government -- backed by a Saudi-led military coalition -- and the Huthis have been locked in war since 2014, when the insurgents seized the capital Sanaa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 2019, the Huthis said they launched a drone strike on Al-Anad during a military parade, with medics and government sources saying that at least six loyalists were killed -- including a high-ranking intelligence official.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Eleven people were wounded in that attack, including Yemen's deputy chief of staff Major General Saleh al-Zandani who later died of his injuries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Al-Anad was recaptured by government forces in August 2015 as they recovered territory from the rebels across the south with support from the Saudi-led coalition.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sunday's incident is one of the deadliest since December 2020, when blasts targeting cabinet members rocked Aden airport.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At the time, at least 26 people, including three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a journalist, were killed and scores wounded in the explosions as ministers disembarked from an aircraft in the southern city.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Yemen's grinding conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, resulting in what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Some 80 percent of Yemen's 19-million strong population are dependent on some form of aid for survival.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While the UN is pushing for an end to the war, the Huthis have demanded the re-opening of Sanaa airport, closed under a Saudi blockade since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The incoming UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, will officially assume his duties on September 5.</p>