Over 40 refugees dead in raid off Yemen coast

dubai — More than 40 people including women and children have been shot dead aboard a boat carrying Somali refugees in the Red Sea off war-torn Yemen, officials said on Friday.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

The refugees were hit by light weapons fire in waters off rebelheld Hodeida but the boat managed to dock in the city’s port, an official there said.

The International Organization for Migration, which has operations in Yemen, said 42 bodies had been recovered.

The port official said dozens of Somalis who survived the attack, as well as three Yemeni traffickers, had been taken to the city’s prison.More than 30 wounded were reported to have been taken to hospital.

The rebel-controlled Saba agency accused the Saudi-led coalition battling the insurgents of attacking the refugees from the air but did not provide further details.

Major General Ahmed Assiri, spokesman for the coalition, dismissed the accusation and told AFP that the force had not been involved in fighting in Hodeida.

“There has been no firing by the coalition in this zone,” the spokesman said.

The coalition has been backing pro-government forces waging an offensive from the south to retake Yemen’s Red Sea coast from Houthi rebel forces.

It was unclear whether those on board were trying to leave Yemen or seek refuge there, but the IOM said it believed the boat was headed for Sudan.

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said 140 passengers were believed to have been aboard the vessel. —