Angry anti-Saudi protest in Sanaa after funeral carnage

Angry anti-Saudi protest in Sanaa after funeral carnage
Volcano of Rage: Thousands of Yemenis demonstrate in Sanaa after an airstrike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition killed 140 mourners.
2 min read
09 October, 2016
At least 140 people were killed at a funeral in Yemen, sparking outrage [Getty]
Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets to demonstrate in the capital Sanaa on Sunday to vent anger at Saudi Arabia, head of a coalition accused of carrying out airstrikes 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 airstrikes since the Saudi-led coalition intervened against the Houthi 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-Houthi told the crowd. "Open the fronts with the Saudi enemy immediately."

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

"Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest). America is the Great Satan," they shouted.

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.