The province near Sanaa is a battle front between the Huthi rebels and the pro-government forces. (Representative)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates:
Seven children and two women were killed in an air strike in northwest Yemen, a UN agency said on Monday, while Riyadh said it had intercepted missiles fired by Yemeni Huthi rebels.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also said that two other women and two children were injured during Monday’s police raid in Hajjah governorate.
The province near the capital Sanaa is a battle front between Huthi rebels and pro-government forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition that provides air support.
“Initial reports … indicate that on July 12 an air strike killed seven children and two women in the Washhah district of Hajjah governorate,” said OCHA.
Lisa Grande, the agency’s coordinator for Yemen, said it was “incomprehensible that in the midst of the COVID pandemic, when options for a ceasefire are on the table, civilians continue to to be killed in Yemen “.
UN experts have accused the two sides in the five-year conflict in Yemen of multiple war crimes.
On Monday, the coalition recognized the possibility of civilian casualties during an anti-Huthi operation in Hajjah and said it was under investigation.
He also said his forces “intercepted and destroyed seven drones and four ballistic missiles” launched by the Huthis against civilians in Saudi Arabia.
The Yemen war between Iran-backed Huthis and pro-government troops escalated in March 2015 when the coalition intervened against the rebels who control large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, around four million people displaced and 80% of the country’s 29 million people depend on aid for their survival.
The coronavirus pandemic is also raging uncontrolled in the country.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
