A car blast near a mosque in Yemen's capital Saturday killed at least two people and Saudi-led warplanes bombarded second city Aden, after peace talks in Geneva ended without agreement.

The explosion in Sanaa, which is under the control of Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels, went off outside the Kobbat al-Mehdi mosque as Shiite Muslims emerged from midday prayers, witnesses and security sources said.

At least 31 people were killed Wednesday and dozens wounded in five simultaneous bombings claimed by the Islamic State group at Shiite mosques and offices in the Yemeni capital, medics and witnesses said.

IS, a Sunni Muslim radical group, said the attacks were in "revenge" against the Shiite Huthis, who have overrun Sanaa and much of the Sunni majority country and whom it considers to be heretics.

Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition struck Saturday rebel positions in Yemen as warring parties from the impoverished nation prepared for U.N.-sponsored Swiss talks, witnesses said. 

Air raids targeted Shiite Huthi rebels in the central province of Dhamar, as well as air defense positions of allied troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, witnesses said.

UNESCO condemned the destruction Friday of ancient houses described as a "jewel" of Islamic urban landscape in an alleged Saudi-led air strike on the Yemeni capital's old quarter that killed five people.

The incident occurred before Yemen's warring factions are to meet Sunday for U.N.-sponsored talks in Geneva in their first bid to break a deadlock after more than two months of Saudi-led air strikes.

The captors of Frenchwoman Isabelle Prime, kidnapped in war-ravaged Yemen on February 24, have posted the first video of her since her abduction.

In the 21-second tape posted on YouTube, seated on the ground and dressed in black, Prime appeals to the French and Yemeni presidents to take action to secure her release.

At least eight civilians were killed and 20 wounded Monday in explosions sparked by Saudi-led air strikes on rebel arms depots in the Yemeni capital, a medical source said.

The strikes on the Mount Noqum base on the eastern outskirts of Sanaa sent munitions and shrapnel flying into adjacent residential neighborhoods, witnesses said.

A U.N.-chartered ship loaded with humanitarian supplies bound for Yemen was targeted by shelling as it approached the country's main southern port of Aden on Sunday, an official said.

The provincial government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed Shiite Huthi rebels who control several neighbourhoods in Yemen's second city for not allowing the ship to dock at Aden's port, which is controlled by pro-government fighters.

Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels have killed the capital's governor in clashes that erupted during an attempt to detain him, his relatives said Friday.

Sanaa governor Abdulghani Jamil and his nephew Nasr Jamil died of wounds suffered in clashes late Thursday between his aides and the Iran-backed militiamen, they said. 

Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition pounded Shiite rebels across three Yemeni cities on Friday, as Riyadh reported the death of a Saudi child from cross-border fire.

The coalition has stepped up its raids on positions held by the Huthi Shiite rebels and their allies since a humanitarian ceasefire ended late Tuesday.

Saudi-led warplanes intensified their air strikes against Yemeni rebels in the capital Wednesday, fueling panic as political efforts to end a war that has displaced half a million people foundered.

The Arab coalition has waged an air campaign against the Iran-backed Shiite rebels since March 26 in an effort to restore the authority of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Riyadh.