Somalia: Somali Citizens among Civilians killed in Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen

Abdirahman. A

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At least six Somali citizens have been killed in Saudi-led coalition air strikes in the Southern Port city of Aden over the weekend, witnesses and a Somali diplomat in the war-torn middle-eastern country has said.
According to residents and a diplomat in Somali consulate in Aden, the six citizens died after a missile hit a house they were residing in. Several others were left badly injured.
‘’They were in their home at the time the missile hit them,’’ said one of the people present at the time of the air strikes who living in an area close to the building.
Dozens of Somali citizens have been killed in Yemen since the conflict erupted.
In April, at least 30 Somali refugees escaping the violence died after a missile hit their convoy in the outskirts of Aden. It is still unclear where that missile had come from.
The fortunate Somalis who are able to escape the violence are taking speedboats and ferries across the Gulf of Aden to Somalia and other neighbouring African countries where refugee camps are already stretched thin. So far, more than 20,000 Somalis have managed to escape the violence while others are still stranded.
Violence in Yemen escalated in earlier this years as several parallel conflicts have intensified and expanded, with the Houthi rebels backed by the Iranian government overthrowing the weak government.
Saudi Arabia stepped in trying to prevent the attempt by the Iranian-backed militia to take control of the country.
For two decades, Somalis fleeing their failed state found in Yemen a safe haven, a place to work, and a gateway to wealthier Gulf States risking one of the world’s most dangerous boat journeys across the Gulf of Aden.
The war in Yemen, pitting supporters of the president against Houthi rebels, has reversed the refugee flow in the region, which previously saw refugees flee the Horn of Africa for Yemen, where they accounted for nearly all the 250,000 refugees registered in the Gulf country.
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