July 06--REPORTING FROM SANA, Yemen -- An airstrike hit a popular livestock market in Yemen on Monday, killing at least 42 people, witnesses and medical officials said, as a Saudi Arabian-led coalition continued aerial attacks against Houthi rebels for a fourth month.
The death toll, which included many civilians, was expected to increase, with at least 65 other people injured, many critically, according to medical sources and Abdul-Khaliq Mohammed, an Aden resident who spoke to the Los Angeles Times by phone. The attack occurred at the market in suburban Fyoush, about nine miles north of the port city of Aden.
A car carrying fighters loyal to the Houthis had arrived at the market to make a purchase shortly before the attack, and at least six Houthi fighters were killed in the strike, witnesses said.
Of the 42 bodies recovered from the scene, medical officials said, many were burned and unrecognizable. Nearby residents said many of the market's animals were also killed in the strike.
More than 3,000 people, half of them civilians, have been killed and 14,000 more wounded since airstrikes began March 25, according to the United Nations, as the conflict has deepened into an alarming humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest country.
More than 1 million Yemenis have fled their homes, and 13 million have poor access to food, according to the U.N. The organization has called the conflict a "humanitarian catastrophe" and is seeking a ceasefire until at least the end of the holy month of Ramadan in mid-July.
Houthi rebels took over Sana, the capital, in September, and the stated goal of the Saudi coalition's airstrikes has been to restore to power exiled President Abdu Rabu Mansour.
Previous strikes have struck Houthi positions and weapons caches but also residential areas and historic sites. The coalition has not admitted to killing civilians and has accused the Houthis of using cilivians as human shields.
Special correspondent al-Alayaa reported from Sana, and staff writer Pearce from Los Angeles.
