Rights Group Deplores Saudi Arabia’s Killing of Yemen’s Civilians
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed Saudi Arabia’s targeting of civilians in Yemen, saying the kingdom and its supporters in the West have failed to provide answers over the killing of civilians in the impoverished country.
In a 73-page report issued on Friday, the HRW said Saudi fighter jets carried out at least 10 “apparently unlawful” airstrikes in Yemen between April and August 2015, killing 309 civilians and wounding another 414 people.
The report said neither Saudi Arabia nor the United States, which has provided intelligence and logistical assistance for the attacks, have launched an investigation into the civilian deaths in Yemen.
For more than seven months, Saudi Arabia has been targeting residential areas across Yemen in a purported bid to block the advance of the ruling Ansarullah movement and bring back to power Riyadh’s protégé Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
Washington has supported the deadly attacks, with its military units in the Middle East are providing intelligence to the Saudis on the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, who are known as the Houthis. Earlier this month, the US officials approved the sale of USD1.29 billion worth of bombs to renew Saudi Arabia’s arsenal.
The HRW report suggested that the attacks against the civilians had been deliberate and indiscriminate, Press TV reported.
“Human Rights Watch found either no evident military target or that the attack failed to distinguish civilians from military objectives,” the report said, adding that the attacks took-place in areas under the control of Houthis including Sana’a, Amran, Hajjah, Hodaydah and Ibb and hit residential houses, market places, a factory, and a civilian prison.
The illegal Saudi air campaign, which began on March 26, has killed more than 7,500 people, according to Yemeni sources, while the United Nations put the death toll at 5,700, saying more than half of those killed were civilians.
