A Saudi-led coalition airstrike killed at least 12 civilians, including seven children, in the coastal city of Hodeidah on Monday, media reports citing medics and witnesses.
The 12 victims were all reported to be from the same family. People on the ground said the blast destroyed a house in the al-Hali district of the city. Hodeidah is home to the largest port in war-torn Yemen. It’s the main distribution point for aid for the millions of civilians on the brink of famine following the three-year conflict.
Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015. The kingdom has imposed a naval and air blockade on Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula. The conflict has so far killed an estimated 10,000 people and displaced more than 2 million, leaving many in the country on the verge of starvation.
Further to the blockade the coalition has conducted over 16,600 air raids, with roughly a third of them targeting non-military sites. Amnesty International says at least 36 of them violated international laws and may have constituted war crimes. With 130 children dying in Yemen every day, the conflict has been described as the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster."
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