Saudi-led military coalition added to UN's blacklist over the deaths of hundreds of children in Yemen

children are among the victims of Saudi Arabia's airstrikes in Yemen

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon  placed the Saudi-led military coalition that launched a war on Yemen on an annual blacklist over the deaths of hundreds of children in airstrikes.

Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels who seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014 were also added to the list of children's rights violators released Thursday, detailing offenses in 14 countries.

"Emerging and escalating crises had a horrific impact on boys and girls," said a statement from the office of the UN envoy for children and armed conflict.

"The situation in Yemen was particularly worrisome with a five-fold increase in the number of children recruited (by armed groups) and six times more children killed and maimed compared to 2014," it said.

The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for 60 percent of the total 785 children who were killed and 1,168 wounded last year in Yemen, said the report.