Iran Raps Saudi Attack on Bus Carrying Kids in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned a Thursday attack by the Saudi-UAE military coalition’s warplanes on a bus in Yemen’s Sa’adah that killed at least 43, mostly children who were on their way to Quran classes.
In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi condemned the “war crime” of bombing the school bus in the city of Dahyan in Yemen’s northwestern province of Sa’adah, expressing sympathy with families of the victims.
He also called on the international community to take any possible measure to prevent the continuation of such crimes against Yemenis.
“Intensified bombardment of residential areas and civilian targets (in Yemen) reveals the (Saudi-led) coalition’s successive defeats in the battlefield,” the spokesman deplored.
Lambasting the military support that the self-proclaimed advocates of human rights have been providing for the Saudi-UAE coalition, Qassemi said the supporters are “accomplices in such war crimes and must be held accountable.”
The Iranian diplomat also urged the United Nations and influential countries to accelerate efforts for an immediate end to the Saudi air strikes and take the necessary measures to protect civilian lives in Yemen.
Ghani Nayeb, the head of a health department in the province of Sa’adah, said the death toll from the Thursday attack on the school bus stood at 43 with 61 wounded.
The bus was reportedly carrying a group of students attending summer classes learning the Quran.
People of Yemen have been under massive attacks by the Saudi-led coalition for more than three years. Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been launching deadly airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
The aggression has killed over 16,000 people and taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. The offensive has, however, achieved none of its goals