18 civilians killed, 47 wounded in Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen's Aden

Up to 18 civilians were killed and 47 others wounded when warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition forces mistakenly hit a populated neighborhood in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Monday, a government official told Xinhua.

"A number of missiles fired by the Saudi-led warplanes struck a residential neighborhood in the district of Crater of Aden city by mistake, leaving dozens of people killed and wounded and destroying several houses at the scene," the local government official based in Aden said on condition of anonymity.

"According to the initial reports, the Saudi-led airstrike killed about 18 civilians and wounded 47 others, including children and women," the government source said.

Local residents confirmed to Xinhua that "very huge explosions rocked the populated neighborhood and caused several buildings to collapse while many people were living there."

An army commander fighting alongside with tribal militia loyal to Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Aden said that "apparently the Saudi-led airstrike were aiming to target armored trucks of the Houthi gunmen stationed in Crater district."

"But unfortunately the raids mistook its target and hit residential buildings that caused large destruction in the area," the army commander said.

Yemen's official Saba news agency that is controlled by the Shiite Houthi group announced on Monday that 3,512 Yemenis, including 492 children, killed in the airstrikes since the beginning of the campaign on March 26.

The report said also that 6,189 people were injured, including 978 children and 713 women and about 95,000 families have been displaced.

However, the United Nations human rights office said on April 24 that the death toll in Yemen between March 26 and April 22 is estimated at 551, including 31 women and at least 115 children.

"These are just the civilian casualties," said Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. "The total number of people killed is considerably higher. Another 1,185 civilians have been injured, including 35 women and 67 children."

On Monday, the Houthi-controlled Telecommunications Authority declared that phones and the Internet services will be cut all over Yemen in the next few days due to fuel shortage.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of the Houthi followers staged demonstration in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa to condemn the Saudi-led airstrikes.

Saudi Arabia started on March 26 airstrikes against the Houthi group and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullash Saleh who was accused of supporting the Houthis to overthrow Hadi, aiming to reinstate the Yemeni government.

Last week, the Saudi Defense Ministry announced the halt of air raids, saying the coalition forces had eliminated threats of the Houthi group to the regional countries. However, the warplanes of the Saudi-led forces still carried out daily operations in Yemen against the Houthis and Saleh since then. Endit