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Saudi-led coalition rescues civilians from Houthi attack

Xinhua, October 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday that it rescued a number of civilian passengers from a vessel that was attacked by Houthi fighters, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The attack took place on Saturday noon and targeted a civilian vessel, which was owned by a UAE maritime company and on a regular trip to and from Yemeni city of Aden to transfer medical and relief aid, in addition to evacuate the wounded civilians, the command of the coalition said in a statement

The coalition regarded the incident as a terrorist operation against international civil navigation and relief ships near the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen's southern coast, the statement said.

The Saudi-led coalition, which is supporting the internationally recognized Yemeni government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has been leading a war against Shiite Houthi rebels, which are controlling Sanaa and much of the country's north, from March 2015.

Houthi rebels, supported by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, seized Sanaa and other northern and southern cities in September 2014, forcing Hadi and his government into exile.

The airstrikes and fighting on the ground have killed over 10,000 Yemenis, many of them women and children, and injured around 35,000 others, according to a UN report. Over 3 million have been displaced. Endit