Yemen rebels say Saudi-led airstrike kills 22 children near port city Hodeida

Yemen's Houthi rebels have said a Saudi-led coalition airstrike has killed 26 people - 22 children and 4 women - near the port city of Hodeida.

2 min read
23 August, 2018
On August 9, a coalition bomb killed 40 children and 11 others [Getty]

Yemen's Houthi rebels have said a Saudi-led coalition airstrike has killed 26 people - 22 children and 4 women - near the port city of Hodeida.

The Houthi-run SABA news agency made the announcement in a statement on Thursday, two weeks after the coalition killed 40 children in an air raid on a school bus in the north of the country.

The report said the strike hit a car carrying displaced people in the Duraihimi District of the rebel-held province of Hodeida.

A Houthi military leader told the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV that the strike targeted a convoy of cars fleeing Hodeida, killing all on board.

The Saudi-led coalition has not commented on the reports.

On August 9, a coalition bomb killed 40 children and 11 others in rebel-held northern Yemen.

Fifty-six children were also among the 79 people wounded in the strike on Saada province, a rebel stronghold that borders Saudi Arabia.

The coalition has promised an internal inquiry but analysts and aid groups have voiced doubt that it is ready to provide the transparency and accountability demanded by the wider international community.

Coalition commanders have admitted a small number of mistakes, but there has been no public disciplinary action or changes to the rules of engagement.

This week, CNN reported that the bomb in Saada strike was sold by the United States under a State Department deal with Riyadh.