A Saudi-led coalition airstrike reportedly just killed more than 20 children — again

Children treated for injuries after a Saudi-led coalition hit a school bus. Reuters

A Saudi-led coalition airstrike allegedly killed at least 20 children in Yemen on Thursday, according to several reports from journalists on the ground.

"Terrible news coming from western port city of Hodeidah, Yemen," freelance journalist Shuaib M. Almosawa tweeted. "Saudi coalition has reportedly targeted displaced people and a private house, killing 31 mostly children in al-Duraihimi district, according to health ministry in capital Sana."

It's unclear at this point exactly how many civilians were killed, and how the airstrike was carried out.

"#Breaking update from a friend in Alduraihimi: 20 displaced children and 4 women killed in this attack by #Saudi led coalition in Alduraihimi area #Hodeidah #Yemen," another freelance journalist, Ahmad Algohbary, tweeted.

The alleged airstrike comes two weeks after a Saudi-led coalition airstrike killed dozens of children in a school bus in northern Yemen.

The bomb used in the Saudi-led coalition airstrike on August 9 was reportedly a 500-pound (227 kilogram) laser-guided MK 82 bomb made by Lockheed Martin, a top US defense contractor.

The Saudi-led coalition launched an invasion of the Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah in June, which the UN has warned could end up killing as many as 250,000 civilians.

The conflict in Yemen, which began in 2015 after the Houthis overthrew the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi from the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, has been described as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, with at least 8 million people on the brink of starvation due to famine, and one million children infected with cholera.

The US is part of the Saudi-led coalition, which began striking the Houthis after they overthrew Hadi, as it provides limited intelligence sharing, aerial refueling for coalition jets and training to make coalition airstrikes more precise, and more.

The US' support for the coalition, however, especially after the airstrike that killed dozens of children two weeks ago, has drawn condemnation from US politicians.

In January, Germany and Norway announced that they would stop selling weapons to countries in the Saudi-led coalition over the war in Yemen.