The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen has been removed from a UN blacklist of states and groups that violate children's rights in conflict, BBC News reports.

Saudi Arabia protested after the UN released a report saying the coalition was responsible for 60% of the child deaths and injuries in Yemen last year.

It said the casualty figures were "wildly exaggerated".

The UN said it would now carry out a joint review with the coalition of the cases listed in the report.

But the Saudi envoy to the UN insisted the removal of the coalition from the blacklist was "final".

The human rights campaign group Human Rights Watch sharply criticised the move, saying the UN chief's office had "hit a new low".