Sanaa, Yemen: At least 40 people were killed when a wedding hall in southwest Yemen was bombarded on Monday in a suspected Saudi-led coalition air strike,  medics and witnesses said.

‘The bodies of 31 people, including children, have been taken to a hospital in Mokha,’ a medical source said, before later raising to 40 the death toll at the hall in the Red Sea city.

He said dozens of people were wounded, most of them seriously.

Witnesses reported that warplanes struck the wedding hall in Mokha, which is controlled by Shia Huthi rebels.

However, one local resident, requesting anonymity, said: ‘I didn’t hear any warplanes.’

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led Arab coalition, which launched an air war on the Huthi rebels in late March in support of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Several coalition air strikes have hit non-military facilities killings dozens of civilians over the past six months, prompting condemnation from rights groups.

In late August, an air raid struck a bottled-water factory in the northern Hajja province, killing 17 civilians and 14 rebels.

Warplanes in July attacked the residences of employees of a power plant in Mokha, killing 65 civilians, while a raid on a dairy plant in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in April left 35 civilians dead.

The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people, including a vast number of civilians, have been killed in Yemen’s conflict since late March.

In July, coalition-backed loyalist forces evicted the rebels from the southern city of Aden and four other provinces in the south. They have since set their sights on advancing on rebel-held Sanaa.

On Monday, loyalist forces backed by Saudi-led ground and air support attacked Shia rebels near the ruins of the ancient Marib dam, east of Sanaa, an AFP correspondent reported.

‘We have attacked the Huthis from three fronts: north, south and the east,’ said Marib province’s deputy governor, Abdul Wahed al-Gibli.

The head of police special forces in Marib, General Abdo al-Sayani, said 22 rebels have been killed since Sunday.