At least 16 members of the extended family of a Yemeni mosque imam were killed on Wednesday in an airstrike on their family home in northern Yemen by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, a Reuters witness, a medic and a resident said.

The coalition has been giving air support to President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi in his fight against Iran-allied Houthi militia who have seized much of Yemen since 2014, but has drawn criticism over civilian casualties incurred in the campaign.

Witnesses said missiles struck a house of the imam, identified as Saleh Abu Zainah, in Saada, the capital of Saada province in northern Yemen, the home territory of the Houthis, who hail from the Zaydi branch of Shiite Islam.