Saudi strike kills 44 refugees off Yemen coast

At least 44 people have been killed and dozens of others wounded after a Saudi airstrike hit a refugee boat off Yemen's western coast.

Yemen's al-Masirah television reported on Thursday that the boat which came under attack was carrying Somali refugees near Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

According to the report, there are a number of women and children among the victims.

Reuters quoted a local official in Hudaydah as saying that the boat had come under attack by an Apache helicopter.

The refugees were on their way from Yemen to Sudan, the unnamed official said.

Earlier in the day, Saudi fighter jets bombed a food transport truck in the western province of al-Hudaydah, killing all the passengers, al-Masirah reported, without giving the number of those killed.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a deadly military campaign against Yemen since March 2015. The kingdom has also imposed an aerial and naval blockade on its southern neighbor.

Britain and the US have provided huge amounts of arms and military training to the Saudi forces.

According to the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, the Saudi military campaign has claimed the lives of 10,000 Yemenis and left 40,000 others wounded.

McGoldrick told reporters in Sana'a earlier this year that the figure was based on casualty counts given by health facilities and that the actual number might be higher.

However, local Yemeni sources have put the death toll from the Saudi war at over 12,000, including many women and children.