Saudi-led airstrikes kill 17 in Yemen's center and south

Yemeni tribal and rebel officials said Saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed at least 17 people today, including children, in the southwestern city of Taiz and the northern rebel stronghold of Saada.

They said the Taiz airstrike hit a house in the Dimnat Khadir district, an area that has seen heavy fighting between Saudi-backed government forces and Iran-allied Houthi rebels.

At least 15 people were killed, the tribal officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Another airstrike hit a workshop in Saada, killing at least two people and wounding eight others, including several schoolgirls, said Aliaa Al-Shabby, the rebels' minister for human rights.

She urged an independent commission to be formed to investigate what she called "massacres committed against civilians and unarmed Yemeni people."