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Angry anti-Saudi protest in Sanaa after funeral carnage

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AFP Sanaa
Thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in the capital Sanaa today to vent anger at Riyadh, head of a coalition accused of carrying out air strikes that killed at least 140 people at a funeral.

The protesters gathered outside UN offices in Sanaa and chanted "Death to Al-Saud," the Saudi royal family.

The rally, dubbed the "Volcano of Rage", came a day after bombs hit a funeral ceremony in the capital, in one of the deadliest air strikes since the Saudi-led coalition intervened against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen in March 2015.

The attack also wounded more than 525 people, according to the United Nations.
 

"After this massacre, we are more determined to confront the assailants," prominent rebel chief Mohammed Ali al-Huthi told the crowd. "Open the fronts with the Saudi enemy immediately."

Demonstrators also chanted anti-US slogans coined in Shiite Iran, which backs Yemen's rebels but denies providing military support.

The coalition initially denied responsibility for Saturday's strike but later said it was ready to investigate the "regrettable and painful" attack.

The Saudi-led coalition supports Yemen's internationally-recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against the rebels, who seized the capital and swathes of Yemeni territory in 2014.

The UN says the conflict has killed more than 6,600 people -- almost two-thirds of them civilians -- and displaced at least three million since the Saudi-led intervention.

The coalition has faced repeated criticism from rights groups over civilian casualties in its campaign in Yemen.

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First Published: Oct 09 2016 | 7:22 PM IST

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