At least 44 Yemeni soldiers have been killed and more than a hundred injured in an air strike while they were waiting to collect salaries at the Yemeni army headquarters in the capital Sanaa, according to the Houthi-run Saba news agency.

Earlier on Sunday, army officials said that four explosions shook the compound in central Sanaa, where the soldiers allied with the Houthi group that dominates Yemen had gathered since Saturday evening to get their paycheques.

“More than 44 citizens were martyred and 100 others including women and children, according to preliminary figures,” Saba said, adding the air strikes targeted the armed forces high command building in the Tahrir area in central Sanaa.

An Arab coalition has been bombarding Houthi rebels and allied army units since March 26 in a campaign aimed at restoring President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

Residents said coalition aircraft also targeted other military camps east and west of the capital but there was no immediate word on casualties, the Reuters news agency reported.

On Saturday, the Houthis and their allies in the army fired a Scud missile into Saudi Arabia which the kingdom said it shot down, in a major escalation after two months of war.

Coalition air strikes and shelling after the attack killed 38 Yemenis in provinces near Saudi Arabia, according to Saba reports, which could not be immediately confirmed.

The use of the ballistic missile followed an assault by units of soldiers loyal to Saleh and Houthi fighters on the border with Saudi Arabia at Al Khouba.

Dozens of rebels and four Saudi soldiers were killed in the clash on Friday.

The conflict has killed more than 2,000 people so far, about of half of whom were civilians. Al Jazeera