SANAA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 civilians were killed on Monday when Saudi-led coalition launched a series of airstrikes on a crowded market and a petrol station in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a local security official and medics said.
The attacks also wounded dozens of others. The market in al-Jarrahi district caught on fire after first airstrike hit the nearby petrol station, while the market was struck two times afterwards, the official told Xinhua by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A medic at the Hodeidah hospital said the death toll is likely to increase as many of the injured were in critical conditions.
Rescue teams were still searching for possible survivors from under rubble.
The attack was the latest in a series of airstrikes conducted by the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition air force since the start of the war in Yemen three years ago.
On Saturday, the coalition fighter jets hit three taxis full of travelers near a crowded restaurant also in the same port city, killing at least 20, according to witnesses and medics.
The Saudi-led coalition has intervened in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015 to roll back the Houthi militants and support the internationally-recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was forced into exile by the Houthis.
The war has killed over 10,000 Yemenis, mostly children, and displaced 3 million others, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
