At least 25 people, and by some Houthi counts 27, were killed on Saturday when air strikes hit al Shariya, a village in Sanaa province close to the capital, according to Houthi run media and the health ministry in Sanaa. Officials said most of the dead and roughly 30 wounded were women and children, and footage showed rescuers pulling bodies from collapsed buildings.

The Houthis blamed the Saudi led coalition that backs Yemen's internationally recognised government. Neither Riyadh nor the government commented. Mahdi al Mashat, who heads the group's Supreme Political Council, promised revenge.

The raid came a day after a market in Taiz province was hit, killing about 30 people, with each side accusing the other. The Houthis say more than 50 civilians died over the two days, making it one of the deadliest stretches since fighting reignited in August.

On the ground, government forces said they had beaten back Houthi assaults in Marib with air and drone support and were pushing into Houthi held parts of al Jawf, part of an offensive launched more than a month ago. A military spokesman claimed 875 attacks on Houthi positions in a single day. None of the claims could be independently confirmed.

The Houthis, for their part, said they had fired missiles and drones at Saudi targets including King Khalid airport and oil sites around Riyadh, Khurais and Dawadmi, and a National Guard camp in Najran. The coalition said it shot down a ballistic missile over the Riyadh area.

The conflict had been largely frozen for years before the Iran war revived it. The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and over 300,000 displaced since the fighting resumed.