At least 21 people were killed and another seven wounded on Wednesday in an air strike by the Saudi-led Arab coalition on a hotel in northern Yemen's Sa'dah province controlled by the Houthi rebels.

The attack destroyed the hotel located near a market in Suhar region, Efe news reported.

All the victims were men but it was not clear whether they were civilians or Houthi fighters, the report said.

Since 2010, the Houthi insurgents control Saada, a province bordering Saudi Arabia.

The Arab coalition's military intervention in Yemen began in March 2015 in support of the government led by President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and against the Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sana'a and the wide stretches in the western part of the country.

The alliance of Arab and Sunni countries have previously been accused of bombing civilian targets including schools and hospitals, but it has denied intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure or property.