SANAA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Nine civilians from two families were killed in airstrikes by Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen's northern province of Saada early Friday morning, a local official said.
The victims, mostly women and children, died when the airstrikes hit two houses in Mahdha area in Safra district and in Burkan area in Razih district, leaving seven others critically injured, the security source told Xinhua by phone.
The air raids on Saada were part of at least 40 airstrikes carried out by the coalition warplanes during overnight and Friday morning against Yemeni Houthi rebels in the northern provinces of Saada, Hajjah, Jawf, Hodeidah and Nehm district, northeast of the rebel-held capital Sanaa, according to Houthi-controlled Saba news agency.
This is the latest of a series of airstrikes hitting Yemeni civilians since the civil war began in March 2015.
Last month, the coalition fighter jets hit a camp of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mawza district in the southern province of Taiz, killing a total of 20 people, mostly women and children.
The United Nations refugee agency strongly condemned the July 18 aerial attacks on the IDPs camp and said that it is "deeply shocked and saddened." It said the victims were reported to have been displaced to Mawza from nearby Al Mokha district, which is also experiencing intensified hostilities.
In March 2015, Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict to back internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against Iranian-backed Houthis, who invaded the capital Sanaa militarily and seized most of the northern Yemeni provinces.
More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the war that also displaced over 3 million, according to UN agencies.
The country has also been hit by a deadly cholera outbreak and is on the edge of famine.
