Saudi coalition airstrikes 'kill dozens' in northern Yemen

Saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed more than 23 civilians in the country's north on Friday, Yemeni officials said, as the Riyadh intensifies its bombing of rebel territories.

The airstrikes were carried out in different areas of the northern city of Saada, a stronghold of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, head of the health directorate in the northern city Abdel Elah al-Ezi said.

Houthi-run Sabaa news agebncy and tribal officials reported the airstrikes, which killed women and children.

It follows the killing of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh - a former ally - by the Houthos, who moved to consolidate their grip on Sanaa on Tuesday after a night of heavy airstrikes.

At least 234 people were killed and 400 wounded in five days of heavy fighting in the Yemeni capital, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

More than 10,000 people – over half of them civilians – have been killed since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015. 

The fighting has caused a humanitarian catastrophe which the UN says is the world's worst, pushing seven million people to the brink of famine and sparking a cholera outbreak that the World Health Organisation says has killed 2,000 people.