Somalia blames Saudi-led coalition for deadly strike on boat

Somalia's government is blaming the Saudi-led coalition for yesterday's attack on a boat that killed at least 42 Somali refugees, calling the assault by a military vessel and a helicopter gunship "horrific."

Somalia's foreign ministry today urged the US-supported coalition to investigate, saying "it Is very sad, targeting a boat carrying Somali migrants."

The boat packed with dozens of refugees was more than 30 miles off war-torn Yemen's coast when it came under attack. Yemen's Shiite rebels also have blamed the Saudi-led coalition. There has been no coalition comment.

The attack highlighted the perils of a heavily used migration route running from the Horn of Africa to the oil-rich Gulf, right through Yemen's civil war.
 

A Yemeni trafficker who survived said the refugees had been trying to reach Sudan.