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Report: Saudi-Led Airstrikes Kill 25 Civilians in Yemen

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The sky over Sana'a is illuminated by anti-aircraft fire during a Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, Sept. 26, 2015.
The sky over Sana'a is illuminated by anti-aircraft fire during a Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, Sept. 26, 2015.

Saudi-led helicopter airstrikes have killed 25 civilians – mostly women and children – in a village in northwestern Yemen on Sunday, residents and medics said.

The Reuters news agency quoted a resident who called himself Khaled as saying, "People were fleeing their homes as the helicopters pursued. They committed a massacre for no reason."

The report said the incident occurred in Bani Zela, in Yemen's Red Sea border area with Saudi Arabia.

It comes one day after the kingdom said that three of its officers, a general and two border guards, were killed along the frontier.

The Saudi Press Agency said Brigadier General Ibrahim Hamzi, the deputy commander of the 8th brigade, had been "defending his country" when he was wounded. Hamzi, who was stationed in Jizan, died in a hospital.

The circumstances surrounding his death were not immediately clear.

Several Saudi soldiers have been killed since March when the kingdom formed an Arab coalition to fight Iran-allied Shi'ite Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The coalition has been mounting air attacks against the Houthi militia for six months, attempting to force the group from the capital, Sana'a, and restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

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