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Britain 'raised concerns' with Saudi Arabia over the rising civilian death toll in Yemen, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said today.

The Foreign Secretary said he was very concerned after the Saudi-led coalition hit that killed 51 people in total.

The UK is a key military and security ally of Saudi Arabia and has faced criticism over arms sales in the face of an overwhelming humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Answering questions after a speech in Washington, Mr Hunt said: "We look at that humanitarian situation with a huge amount of concern.

"It's impossible to see the reports of what happened in that bus in Yemen without being very concerned about what is happening.

Saudi Arabia is a close military ally and they help us keep the streets of Britain safe and so that relationship is very important to us.

"It doesn't mean we don't raise concerns about what happened with the Saudi foreign minister Al-Jubeir, as I did last week."

(Image: AFP)

The airstrike, at a busy market in Saada province, drew widespread condemnation for Saudi Arabia - and the UK faced calls to cease selling arms and providing military advice.

According to the UN, the youngsters had been at a summer camp when the bus was struck on Thursday, with most of the dead between 10 and 13 years old.

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called for an independent investigation into the attack.

Labour's shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, warned at the time of the attack that the UK was "arming and advising a Saudi air force that cannot tell or does not see the difference between a legitimate military target and a bus full of children, a family wedding, or a civilian food market".

Mr Hunt on Tuesday said that Britain had one of the "strictest" arms sales systems in the world, adding: "We constantly keep under review the agreements under which the sales are made and make sure that they are used in a way that is consistent with the agreements made when they were sold.

"That is something we will continue to do."