An artwork by a Yemeni artist is seen hanging on a wall of a building allegedly destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes as a tribute to people who were killed in the attacks, in the capital Sanaa, on October 8, 2015. (AFP)
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen denied on Thursday that its warplanes bombed a wedding for the second time in days, dismissing the report as rebel propaganda.
"We did not conduct any operation in Dhamar," the rebel-held province south of the capital Sanaa where the alleged strike took place, coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri told AFP.
"No strikes there. Definitely."Medics said they received 13 dead and 38 wounded after an explosion on Wednesday evening at a wedding party in the town of Sanban, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Sanaa.
Residents and rebels said the explosion was caused by a coalition air strike.
"Coalition warplanes launched the attack. The house was completely destroyed," said witness and local resident Taha al-Zuba.
The rebels' Almasirah television said on Twitter that the wedding was hit by "aggression warplanes," referring to the coalition.
It was the second time in little over a week that the coalition had denied an alleged air strike on a wedding party.
In September, a suspected coalition strike killed at least 131 civilians at a wedding near the Red Sea city of Mokha, which the UN said may have been the deadliest hit since March.
Assiri said that incident too was "fake".
"It is a new media strategy coming from the militia," who have lost territory on the ground in Yemen, he said.