Some 87 refugees died this week in an army air raid on a camp in north Yemen where Shia rebels are challenging the authority of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, news reports said on today.
Local and international rights groups condemned the attack, which follows reports of dozens killed in shelling in a market town on Monday, and called on the government to ensure civilians are protected.
A refugee at the improvised camp at Adi in Harf Sufyan, at the centre of fighting which erupted in early August, said about 87 people died in the raid on Wednesday afternoon.
The source, who did not want to reveal his name, said those buried today included 45 women and 16 children.
"The camp was taken by surprise by the air force bombing them," he said. "When one plane starting firing some people ran towards the water canal, but they were killed when the plane fired at them again."
The independent website News Yemen said 85 people died.
"An air raid hit them in the area when they were sleeping under trees and plastic awnings," it said, citing witnesses. It said the air force then staged a second raid on the camp.
he rebels, who earlier this week posted images of dead and injured from an alleged air raid in al-Talh, accused the government on their website of committing "brutal crimes".
The Yemen Centre for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation, said it had evidence that planes had targeted a crowded market area in al-Talh, causing dozens of casualties.
The rebels say they want autonomy and accuse the Western and Saudi-backed President Saleh of tyranny, corruption and escalating a conflict over central control that began in 2004.
Reuters