Thousands gather in Yemen for funeral of top Houthi official

Thousands of Yemenis attended a funeral in the Houthi-run capital Sanaa on Saturday for Saleh al-Samad, a top Houthi official killed in a Saudi-ledcoalition airstrikelast week.

Al-Samad, who held the post of president in the Houthi-backed political body, was the most senior official to be killed by the Western-backed alliance, which had offered a $20-million US reward for any information that led to Samad's capture.

He was killed April 19 along with six companionsby an airstrike on his car in the coastal province of Hodeida.

Top officials in the Houthi government attended the funeral proceedings, including Mahdi al-Mashat, who was appointed to replace al-Samad.

Witnesses inSanaa reported more Saudi-led air raids over the capital during the funeral,without reporting any casualties.

An airstrike in Sanaaon Friday night killed two Shia(Houthi) rebel leaders and dozens of their militiamen as they held ahigh-level meeting, Saudi state media reported early Saturday. The rebels did notimmediately acknowledge the strike.

Elsewhere, Yemeni Shiarebels said they fired eight ballistic missiles at targets in Saudi Arabia's southern city of Jizan.

The Houthis said they launched eight ballistic missiles at "economic and vital targets" in Saudi's Jizan province on Saturday. Riyadh said it intercepted four of the projectiles.

Jizan civil defence spokesman Colonel Yahya Abdullah Al-Qahtani said on Arabiya TV that the Saudi man was killed by "falling fragments of military projectiles."

A picture accompanying the Arabiya TV report appeared to show the outside of a civilian home pockmarked by shrapnel.

Meanwhile, the rebel-run Al-Masirah TV saidSaturday's missiles hit their targets with "high accuracy."

The Houthishave previously fired missiles targeting the Saudi mainland, including the capital, Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia backs Yemen's internationally recognized government and aims to defeat the Iran-backed Houthis to restore the government led by Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which was forced into exile by the rebels back in 2015.

Activists reported last December that Houthi rebels hadgained control of the majority of Yemen's capital after battling forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was killed by Houthifighters as he fled Sanaa.