US demands probe on Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen

Expressing concerns over the killing of over dozens in Yemen on Thursday, the United States has urged to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the airstrikes.

State department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that though Washington does not have full details of the attacks on the ground it is certainly "concerned about" the reports of civilian casualties in the war-torn Middle East.

Saudi-led coalition air strikes on Thursday killed dozens of people, including children travelling on a bus through a market, in Yemen's Saada province.

The Western-backed alliance fighting the Iranian-aligned Houthi group in Yemen said in a statement that the air strikes targeted missile launchers used to attack the southern Saudi city of Jizan on Wednesday, killing a Yemeni civilian there.

Saudi Arabia and Sunni Muslim allies intervened in Yemen's war in 2015 against the Houthis, who control the most populous areas of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, and drove the internationally recognised government into exile in 2014.

The United States and other Western powers provide arms and intelligence to the alliance, and human rights groups have criticised them over coalition air strikes that have killed hundreds of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets.

Although a US military spokeswoman said US forces were not involved in Thursday's air strike, media reports suggest that Washington had reportedly provided weapons and training to Saudi Arabia that has carried out the attacks in Yemen.

(With inputs from Agencies)