UN Condemns Saudi Airstrikes that Killed 106 in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Citing several airstrikes, including the attack on a crowded village market that killed more than 100 people this week, the United Nations condemned Saudi Arabia’s engagement in Yemen, labelling it an “international crime.”
The kingdom, in its strikes, hasn’t done enough to separate between civilian and military forces allied with the Houthi forces that it is fighting, the UN investigation found.
“It would appear to be the case that the distinction between legitimate military targets and civilian ones – which are protected under international law – is at best woefully inadequate,” said Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in a statement.
“And at worst, we are possibly looking at the commission of international crimes by members of the Coalition,” he added.
The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for most of the targets on innocent civilians. The UN investigators found that the recent attacks had killed 106 civilians including 24 children, The New York Times reported.
Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since March 2015. The Saudi military strikes were launched in a failed effort to undermine the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement and bring the former fugitive president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power.
More than 8,300 people, among them 2,236 children, have been killed and 16,015 others injured since the start of the attacks. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.