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 Houthi fighters fired mortar bombs and Katyusha rockets at the
Saudi border town of Najran on Tuesday, their first cross-border
attack on Saudi Arabia since the coalition's military campaign
against them began on March 26.
The conflict has disrupted imports to Yemen, where about 20 million
people or 80 percent of the population are estimated to be going
hungry, a statement by the United Nations and the Yemen
International NGO Forum said.
A shortage of fuel has crippled hospitals and food supplies in the
past few weeks, and the U.N.'s World Food Programme has said its
monthly fuel needs have leapt from 40,000 liters a month to 1
million liters.
"Millions of lives are at risk, in particular children, and soon we
will not be able to respond," Edward Santiago, country director for
Save the Children, said in the statement.
The statement also dismissed an announcement by the Saudi-led Arab
alliance about a possible truce in some areas to allow for
humanitarian supplies, saying it was not enough and that a permanent
end to hostilities was needed.
 Two people were killed and a child severely wounded in the Saudi
city of Jizan overnight when Houthis fired shells on a family house,
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported on Wednesday.
In Yemen, another nine people were killed and 18 were wounded in air
strikes on a police academy in Dhamar province, some 100 km (62
miles) south of the capital Sanaa, the Houthi-run Saba news agency
said on Wednesday.
POSSIBLE TRUCE
The United Nations said on Tuesday at least 646 civilians had been
killed since coalition air strikes began, including 131 children,
with over 1,364 civilians wounded.
The Iranian-allied Houthi fighters, backed by forces loyal to former
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, seized control of key parts of Yemen,
including the capital.
Saudi Arabia sees the Houthi advance as an expansion of regional
rival Iran that threatens its interests. Riyadh accuses Tehran of
providing weapons to the Yemeni Shi'ite Muslim militia, a charge
Iran denies.
"Yemenis don't need our weapons. Saudis' actions in Yemen are not
justifiable ... Americans are helping them... we only wanted to send
them (Yemenis) medicine," Iranian state television cited Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei as saying on Wednesday.
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The Saudi-led coalition, which includes nine Arab states and has
logistical support from the United States, France and Britain, seeks
to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, now
in exile in Riyadh.
On Tuesday, mortars and Katyusha rockets fired by Houthi fighters in
Yemen struck the Saudi city of Najran, the coalition's spokesman
said.
Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said the projectiles on Tuesday
struck a girls' school and a hospital in Najran, which is only 3 km
(2 miles) from Yemen's border, prompting authorities to close down
all schools in the area.
Civil defense authorities in Najran said three people died and 37
were wounded in the attacks, which hit buildings and cars and
blasted holes in the pavement, according to Saudi media.
Saudi-led warplanes responded overnight with more than 30 air
strikes on the northwestern Yemeni provinces of Saada and Hajja near
the Saudi border, local officials and residents said.
Saada is a stronghold of the Iranian-allied Houthi movement.
Houthi sources said 43 civilians were killed and at least 100
wounded as a result of the strikes, which lasted until dawn on
Wednesday. The figure could not be independently verified.
Local sources also said there was heavy artillery shelling coming
from the Saudi border.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Cairo, Tom Miles in Geneva and
Parisa Hafezi in Ankara; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by William
Maclean and Raissa Kasolowsky)
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