Report says Saudi-led airstrikes kill 16 civilians in northern Yemen

Saudi-led airstrikes killed 16 civilians from three families in overnight raids against Yemen's northern rebel stronghold, Houthi-run Saba news agency reported Wednesday.

The 16, mostly women and children, were huddled in a basement in al-Sahn area when fighter jets bombed their shelter, said the report.

An independent tribal source told Xinhua by phone that "still hundreds of families were trapped and cannot flee to secure places."

"The warplanes hit anything moving on the ground," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Rescue attempts were hampered by constant airstrikes, Saba said.

The Saudi-led military coalition is battling Shiite Houthi rebels in al-Sahn area, on the outskirts of Saada, the capital city of the province bearing the same name.

Fighting escalated between the foes inside Yemen and on the southern borders with Saudi Arabia since United Nations-sponsored peace talks collapsed earlier this month.

As the main stronghold of Houthis, Saada province is the starting point from where the Houthi militias advanced and seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

A coalition of Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, started its military intervention in March 2015 to reinstate the Hadi government.

Saudi-led airstrikes and fighting on the ground have since killed over 10,000 people, mostly civilians, and displaced 3 million others. Endit