At least 26 Somali refugees were killed, including women and children, as their boat was hit by an airstrike near Yemen's Mandeb Strait, security officials said on Friday.

The officials said it is not known who launched the projectile and that dozens of those who were hurt have been transferred to the Al Hudaydah port in the Red Sea, Efe news reported.

The influx of immigrants to Yemen, enroute to other countries, continues despite the war, which has left some 17 million Yemenis - two-thirds of the country's population - in need of urgent aid to avoid risk of death from hunger in the coming months.

Yemen is currently facing the deadliest starvation crisis in the world, according to a United Nations assessment on food security and nutrition.