Amid deepening chaos from Saudi-led air raids and Houthi rebel control, dozens of Yemenis headed to northern areas of Somalia seeking refuge, local officials and the UN told the Associated Press.
The UN refugee agency said Saturday saw at least 32 Yemenis arrive by sea to Somaliland and the semiautonomous Puntland region.
Omar Abokor, deputy manager of Somaliland's Berbera Port, told reporters Tuesday some 12 families had arrived by sea after fleeing Yemen's third largest city of Taiz, where Saudi-led warplanes have pounded Houthi rebel positions this week.
Another count from the UN's child refugee wing, UNICEF, said at least 62 children were killed in the last week in Yemen.
Normally a nation with fleeing refugees of its own, Somalia's port scene was drastically out of the ordinary, as Yemeni families unloaded in hope of an escape from their country's escalating violence. Meanwhile, Somalia has already expressed support for the Saudi-led air campaign agaist the Shiite rebels, raising concerns of a possible backlash against some 238,000 Somali refugees being hosted in Yemen.
