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CAIRO (Reuters) - Air strikes by an Arab coalition fighting Iranian-allied Houthi forces in Yemen hit a market northeast of the capital Sanaa on Saturday, killing 40 people, residents said.

The strikes at Nehm district in Sanaa province also wounded 30, they said, adding that most of the casualties were civilians.

The Saudi-led alliance is fighting the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in a bid to restore the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The United Nations says nearly 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which began after the Houthis advanced on the southern port city of Aden, where Hadi had been based. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

Saudi Arabia sees the Houthis as a proxy for Iran, its main regional adversary. The Houthis and Saleh accuse the coalition of launching a war of aggression.