Saudi-UAE coalition air raid kills civilians in Yemen’s Hodeidah

An air raid by the Saudi-UAE coalition targeting Houthi fighters in Yemen has killed at least 17 people in the province of Hodeidah, according to rebel officials.

Youssef al-Hadari, spokesman for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said the raid on Saturday targeted the Jabal Rass area.

At least 20 people were wounded, he told The Associated Press news agency.

Medical sources told Reuters 10 civilians were among those killed when the air strike hit a Houthi checkpoint as a bus was passing through. 

Eight members of the same family were among the victims, they said.

A spokesman for the Saudi-UAE coalition could not immediately be reached for comment.

The coalition intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015 to restore the country’s internationally-recognised government to power.

Hodeidah, with its key port installations that bring in humanitarian aid, has become the centre of Yemen’s conflict, with ground troops allied to the coalition struggling to drive out the rebels who control it.

The coalition has conducted thousands of air strikes targeting the Iran-aligned Houthis, and has often hit civilians, but denies doing so intentionally.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than two million and driven the country – which was already the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula – to the verge of widespread famine.

The United Nations said the conflict in Yemen has produced the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.