Helicopter attack on boat off Yemen coast kills 31 refugees Middle East

An Apache helicopter hit a boat in Yemeni waters that was carrying refugees to Sudan, killing 31 people. (Photo by OCHA, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32650152)

MOSCOW—An Apache helicopter hit a boat in Yemeni waters that was carrying refugees to Sudan, killing 31 people.

The refugees were carrying official UNHCR documents, The Guardian newspaper reported, citing a local coast guard officer.

According to the sailor operating the boat, also cited by the newspaper, 80 refugees were rescued.

It has not been established yet to whom the aircraft belonged.

Yemen’s civil war between the internationally recognized Aden-based government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi rebel movement backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh erupted in March 2015. The same month, the Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries started carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi’s request.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, 180,992 people left Yemen in the period between April 2015 and October 2016.