Saudi Airstrikes in Yemen War Crimes: HRW
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Human Rights Watch the Saudi-led coalition is committing war crimes in Yemen, saying its airstrikes killed 39 civilians including 26 children in two months.
The rights group said five airstrikes hitting four family homes and a grocery store were carried out either deliberately or recklessly, causing indiscriminate loss of civilian lives in violation of the laws of war, Reuters reported.
“The Saudi-led coalition’s repeated promises to conduct its airstrikes lawfully are not sparing Yemeni children from unlawful attacks,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement.
“This underscores the need for the United Nations to immediately return the coalition to its annual “list of shame“ for violations against children in armed conflict,” she said.
On August 4, the Saudi-led coalition aircraft struck a home in Sa’ada, killing nine members of a family, including six children, ages 3 through 12.
On July 3, an airstrike killed eight members of the same family in Taiz province, including the wife and 8-year-old daughter, the organization said.
HRW said it interviewed nine family members and witnesses to five airstrikes that occurred between June 9 and August 4 and did not detect any potential military targets in the vicinity.
The war has killed more than 12,000 people, displaced more than three million and ruined much of the impoverished country’s infrastructure.
On Monday, the UN said it has verified nearly 6,000 civilian deaths in the Saudi military aggression against Yemen.
