Saudi-led coalition 'kills dozens of Yemen civilians' in 24 hour airstrikes

Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out nine air raids overnight on positions of the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea province, local sources told AFP.

The strikes killed 36 rebels and 12 civilians, sources at four hospitals in the provincial capital.

Fighting between the Iran-backed rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi supported by the Saudi-led coalition has intensified in the past few weeks, causing a rise in civilian casualties.

Last week, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick said coalition airstrikes on December 26 killed 68 civilians in Hodeidah and the neighbouring province of Taiz. 

The coalition accused McGoldrick of bias towards the rebels, but did not deny the civilian deaths.

The military alliance intervened in support of Hadi's government in March 2015, after the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa and much of the rest of the country.

But despite the coalition's superior firepower, the rebels still control the capital and much of the north.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the coalition intervened.