Saudi-led airstrikes kill at least 20 Yemeni civilians

At least 20 Yemeni civilians werekilled and many others were wounded when a Saudi-led coalitionairstrike hit a village in the south, officials from the armedHouthi movement and the government said on Wednesday.

The UNsaid the victims of Tuesday's bombing, which hital-Atera village in Taiz province where fighting between Yemen'stwo warring sides has intensified, were internally displacedpeople.

Yemen's internationally recognized government confirmed thataround 20 people were killed, including women and children. Itgave no further details on the attack.

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Yemen's human rights minister, Mohammed Askar, called for a government investigation into what he described as an "unfortunate incident" while Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam condemned it as a "monstrous crime."

Shabia Mantoo, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman in Yemen, said most of those killed were believed to be from the same family.

Government forces backed by the coalition have been fightingto seize a major military base in the area for several months.The Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 to fight theIran-allied Houthis after they overran the capital Sanaa.

Tuesday's attack was the latest in a series of coalitionbombings that have hit schools, hospitals, markets and privatehomes across northern Yemen.

The impoverished Arab country has been devastated by thewar, which has killed more than 10,000 people and sparked acholera outbreak among 300,000 people.

Thousands of people have been displaced and more than amillion people have been forced to flee their homes nationwide,according to the UN.

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