Saudi airstrikes kills dozens in Yemen one day after rebel Scud attacks

SANAA, Yemen, June 7 (UPI) -- Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi insurgents in Yemen reportedly killed more than 40 people on Sunday, one day after the rebels say they shot three Scud missiles at an air base in Saudi Arabia.

The rebels say at least 44 people died and more than 100 were wounded when strikes hit Yemeni army headquarters and the surrounding area in the country's capital, Sanaa. Most of those killed were soldiers waiting in line for pay.

The air attacks come one day after the Houthis say they shot three Scud missiles at King Khalid Air Base near the Saudi city of Khamis Mushait. Saudi Arabia acknowledged it shot down one of the Scuds with a U.S.-provided Patriot missile.

The violence comes one week before United Nations-brokered talks between both sides are scheduled to begin in Geneva, Switzerland.

At least 2,200 people have died and more than a million have been displaced by the fighting in Yemen, which last year saw the Houthis seize the country's capital, forcing President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to flee south to Aden and eventually to Saudi Arabia.

In late March a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Muslim states formed and began blockading Yemen and bombing the Houthis, who are associated with Shia Islam, in order to restore Hadi. The Saudis and others accuse Iran, a major Shia power in the region, of supporting the rebels. Iran has denied the charge.