At least 35 workers have been killed at a dairy factory in Yemen as Saudi Arabian warplanes continue to bomb Shiite rebel positions in both the north and the south of the country . Today 's airstrikes targeted rebel-controlled army camps in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida , and hit warehouses belonging to a factory that produces dairy products . The jets drew return fire from anti-aircraft guns as the Saudi-led campaign to defeat the Iran-backed Shiite rebels loyal to Yemen 's deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh entered its seventh day . The attack on the dairy factory comes as Saudi Arabia hinted that it was prepared to launch a ground invasion in Yemen in the hope of forcing the Houthi rebels to allow current president , Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to return to the country , after he fled the southern port city of Aden last week . Hit : Smoke rises from the dairy factory hit by an air strike in Yemen 's western port city of Houdieda today . Blast : Today 's airstrikes targeted rebel-controlled army camps in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida , and hit warehouses belonging to a factory that produces dairy products . Under attack : Houthi fighters walk as smoke rises from a military supply post after it was hit by an air strike in Yemen 's northwestern city of Saada earlier today . Yemeni supporters of the Saudi-led coalition hold pictures of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud alongside Saudi and Yemeni flags during a demonstration against the Shiite Houthi rebels in Taez city today . Since their advance began last year , the Houthis have overrun the Yemeni capital , Sanaa , and several provinces , and have forced current president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee abroad . Following today 's airstrikes on the dairy factory in Hodeida , the Houthi 's anti-aircraft guns returned fire before the factory itself was set ablaze . Parts of its main building collapsed from explosions with workers still inside , according to at least five eyewitnesses and officials . According to the medical center in Hodeida , at least 35 workers were killed , many of them crushed by the rubble or burned to death . Two military officials said the factory had been used as a rebel weapons cache , and that while the airstrikes flattened the warehouses , the main factory building was only partially destroyed - suggesting it might have been hit from ground . All the officials and witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media . Families of stranded Pakistanis in Yemen hold their pictures in a rally for their rescue in Multan today . Yemeni men chant slogans while holding posters of the Shiite Houthi rebel leaders they support . The airstrikes come as Saudi Arabia hinted once again that it could carry an ground invasion in Yemen in the coming days . Authorities reiterated that the Sunni alliance , which was set up by the Arab nations against the Houthi Shiite rebels , is boosting its military presence in the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border . Saudi Arabia shares a 1,120 mile-long border with Yemen -- much of which is incredibly porous . 'The Saudi-led air campaign may be accompanied by an operation on the ground , ' Saudi Arabia 's Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri was quoted as saying by the International Business Times . 'One should not expect a sudden ground attack , ' he reportedly added . 'The Houthis are moving from one place to another in search of safe havens . We will make sure that there will be no safe place the militants to hide on the land of Yemen , ' General Asseri went on to say . Scores of Yemeni expatriates , including students and clerics , chant slogans while holding a poster of the Yemeni Shiite Houthi rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi , during a protest in Tehran , Iran this morning . Yemeni men in Tehran hold a burning photo of Saudi King Salman , with Arabic writing reading 'Horn of Satan ' The Hodeida death toll came a day after international aid groups expressed alarm over high civilian casualties in Yemen 's escalating crisis . A report published yesterday by the U.N. children 's agency , UNICEF , said 62 children were killed and 30 wounded during the fighting in Yemen over the past week . It was not clear if the deaths were the result of airstrikes or ongoing clashes between rival groups across the country . The U.N. human rights office in Geneva also said its staffers in Yemen confirmed that at least 19 civilians died when airstrikes hit a refugee camp near the Houthi stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen on Sunday , with at least 35 wounded , including 11 children . Critics of the Houthis charge that they are an Iranian proxy — a claim the rebels deny . Iran has provided aid to the rebels , but both Tehran and the Houthis deny it has armed them . In Tehran , dozens of Yemeni expatriates , including clerics and students , took to the streets on Wednesday to denounce the airstrikes . The protesters burned photos of Saudi King Salman and marched outside the Saudi Embassy .
Dairy factory in Red Sea port city of Hodeida was destroyed earlier today . 35 people were killed in airstrike that prompted Houthi rebels to return fire . Attack comes as Saudi issues new warning of imminent ground invasion . Comment: