Strike kills dozens of Yemen rebels including commanders: Saudi TV

An air strike on Yemen's capital by a Saudi-led military coalition has killed dozens of Houthi rebels, including at least two commanders, Saudi television reported on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia's official Al-Ekhbariya television said two high-ranking rebels were among more than 50 Houthi militiamen killed in Sanaa on Friday evening, without giving further details. 

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said a total of 38 rebels were killed in the strike on a Houthi interior ministry building. 

The Houthis confirmed there had been an air strike on Sanaa but gave no details. 

The raid came hours ahead of a public funeral of the Houthis' political head Saleh al-Sammad, killed last week in a Saudi-led coalition strike. 

It also came as newly appointed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to land in Riyadh for meetings that were to include talks on the Yemen conflict. 

The Iran-backed rebels have been locked in a war with the Saudi-led military alliance, which since 2015 has fought to restore the internationally recognised Yemeni government to power. 

The Yemen conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between regional titans Iran and Saudi Arabia. 

The Houthis control Yemen's capital as well as much of the rest of the country's north, which borders Saudi Arabia, and the key Hudaida port on the Red Sea coast.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance joined the Yemen conflict, triggering what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Yemen now stands at the brink of famine. 

The Saudi-led coalition in Novemberimposed a total blockade on Yemen's ports in retaliation for cross-border Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia. 

The blockade has since been partially lifted, but access to the impoverished country remains limited.