Former Australian military personnel aiding Saudi Arabia in Yemeni conflict: media

Former Australian military personnel are reportedly playing a key role in Saudi Arabia's military campaign against Yemeni rebels, a conflict that has been labelled as a proxy war between rival Middle Eastern nations.

Retired Australian Major General Mike Hindmarsh, a former special forces commander, is in charge of the United Arab Emirates elite presidential guard and reports directly to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirates is among many other Gulf States supporting Saudi Arabia in a push back against Yemen's Houthi rebels which they accuse Iran of supporting.

University of Sydney international security expert Dr Sarah Phillips told the ABC the conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

However she said human rights observers are becoming increasingly worried about the growing civilian casualties, including Amnesty International, which has called for a suspension of arms exports to members of the Saudi coalition from after obtaining evidence of war crimes.

"The Saudi-led coalition is behaving in a way that's reckless at best, at best," Phillips said.

"They have bombed an extraordinary number of hospitals, schools -- all manner of civilian institutions and infrastructure. Just recently we've had cluster bombs which have previously been used elsewhere in the country, being dropped in the capital city of Sana'a."

It's believed Hindmarsh and other Australians donning middle eastern military uniforms are helping improve the standards of the Gulf forces and are not directly involved in the conflict. Endit