Sanaa/New Delhi: At least 20 Indians were killed in airstrikes Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces on fuel smugglers at Yemen's Hodeidah port on Tuesday, reports said.
According to media reports, the locals said that two boats were hit in the attack on an area called al-Khokha near Hodeidah port.
The Ministry of External Affairs, however, said it has no information about the death of Indians. "We are ascertaining the facts about the reports," MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup said when asked about reports that 20 Indians had been killed in Saudi-led strikes in Yemen.
India does not have Embassy in Yemen, which was shut down in April after evacuation of its nationals.
Today, 12 Shiite rebels were also killed in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in the province of Marib the area where a rebel missile strike days earlier killed 45 Emirati soldiers and 10 Saudi troops, independent Yemeni security officials and witnesses said Tuesday.
Officials from the rebel group, known as Houthis, confirmed that more than 20 airstrikes occurred on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of mainly Gulf nations fighting the Houthis. The coalition suffered its worst day of losses Friday in the missile strike in Marib.
On Friday, Bahrain's state news agency also reported five of its soldiers were killed protecting Saudi's southern border, without elaborating. Yemen is the only hostile country on Saudi's southern border.
Yemen is torn between the Houthis, allied with army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and military forces loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The Houthis took Sanaa in September, later expanding across Yemen.
The conflict has killed over 2,100 civilians, according to the United Nations.
(With inputs from agencies)
