20 civilians killed in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen

At least 20 civilians were killed on Saturday when Saudi-led coalition fighter jets hit Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, witnesses and a medical source told Xinhua.

The warplanes struck three taxis full of travellers near a crowded restaurant in the city, killing a number of people, including women and children. Dozens of clients inside the restaurant were also killed or injured, according to witnesses.

Medical source in the Hodeidah hospital told Xinhua by phone that at least 20 were killed and 10 others wounded.

The attack took place around noon at the al-Jarrahi district.

The attack was the latest in a series of airstrikes conducted by the US-backed Saudi-led coalition air force since the start of the war in Yemen three years ago.

Last Tuesday, the coalition's warplanes targeted a crowded popular market in the southwestern province of Taiz, killing over 40 people, according to local media and witnesses.

A day earlier, a family of nine members, including five children, were killed when the coalition struck the family's house five times in Yemen's capital Sanaa, local residents and a Xinhua photographer at the scene witnessed.

The Saudi-led coalition has intervened in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015 to roll back the Houthi militants and support the internationally-recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was forced into exile by the Houthis.

The war has killed over 10,000 Yemenis, mostly children, and displaced 3 million others, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

--IANS

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