Yemen: UN calls for investigation into Saudi-led coalition airstrikes | Humanitarian Crisis News

The UN leader has condemned the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes on the city of Saada and called for an investigation into the bombings that killed more than 70 people in Yemen.

“The Secretary-General calls for a swift, efficient and transparent investigation into these events to ensure accountability,” said Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for Antonio Guterres.

A detention center for migrants in the city of Saada was bombed on Friday. Yemeni Red Cross spokesman Basheer Omar said rescuers were still searching for the survivors. More than 100 people have been killed and injured, according to the Red Cross.

Yemeni Houthi rebels and a support group say the death toll rose to at least 82 on Saturday.

Al Jazeera, however, was unable to verify the death toll on its own.

The number of injured by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is only “about 200”. Ahmed Mahat, MSF’s Yemeni mission chief, said they were “aware of the many corpses and missing people still at the scene of the airstrike.”

Another Saudi airstrike on Friday in the port city of Hodeidah, later confirmed by satellite photos from the AP news agency, hit a telecommunications center that is key to its Internet connection. Earlier on Saturday, the internet continued to plummet.

Yemeni Health Minister Houthi Taha al-Motawakel has called for medical assistance from the international community. He accused the Saudi coalition of deliberately targeting civilians.

“It simply came to our notice then. The world should be responsible for this critical moment in human history, ”he said.

Houthi Al Masirah Satellite TV News reported that a strike in the telecommunications building had killed and injured a number of people. He released chaotic images of people looking for a corpse in the rubble, while bloodthirsty survivors of rescue workers.

People in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Tuesday inspect the wreckage of damaged buildings in Sanaa. [Hani Mohammed/AP Photo]

Save the Children said at least three children were killed in the Hodeidah attack.

Airstrikes have also taken place near the Houthi capital of Sanaa since the end of 2014. At least 14 people were killed in airstrikes in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Intense campaign

The fierce campaign comes after Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for drone and missile strikes inside the UAE capital this week – a escalation of the conflict in Yemen where Saudi-led coalitions, of which the BAC is a member. He has been carrying out airstrikes since 2015.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Al Attab, reporting from Sanaa, said the attacks had been condemned nationwide by Yemeni Houthis and various human rights groups.

“The human rights ministry headed by Houthi has called for an investigation into the attacks,” he said.

Eight aid agencies working in Yemen said in a joint statement that they were “horrified” by the killings in Saada, including women and children.

“Migrants looking for a better life for themselves and their families, dozens of injured Yemeni civilians, is a picture we weren’t expected to wake up in Yemen,” said Gillian Moyes, Yemen’s director of Save the Children.

Jamal Benomar, a former UN special envoy to Yemen, said the airstrikes were the latest in a series of war crimes committed by a Saudi-led coalition.

“There has been no responsibility since the beginning of this war. Not only the United States, but also the permanent members of the Security Council.

“The reality is that instead of cooperating with all five members, the Saudis are forced to end the Yemeni war and try to find a way to force the Yemeni parties to enter into a political process in good faith to end this conflict. .

“So the highest body in the world, the members of the United Nations, the Security Council, the members have not, I fear, played a positive role in recent years.”

The Saudi-led coalition has denied carrying out the Saada bombing

The Saudi-led coalition has denied any wrongdoing. Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki complained that the Houthis had not complained that the site should be protected from airstrikes by the UN or the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Houthie said the failure to do so represented the “usual misleading view” of the militia in the conflict. Al-Malki’s claim could not be immediately verified by international agencies.

The Saudi-led coalition acknowledged that it was carrying out “specific airstrikes to destroy militia capabilities” around the port of Hodeidah. He did not immediately confirm his call for a telecommunications target, but Hodeidah considered it a site of piracy and Iranian arms smuggling to protect the Houthis.

Iran has refused to arm the Houthis, although UN experts, independent analysts and Western nations have shown evidence of Tehran’s links to arms.

On Friday, supporters of Houthi held a rally, saying the airstrikes were “American climbing.” Houthi media outlets distributed thousands of videos on the streets. The Houthis usually equate the Saudi-led coalition with the United States, condemning America.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the Yemeni civil war in 2015 to try to restore the country’s internationally accepted government, which was ousted by the Houthis last year.

The conflict has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of international civilians killed and critics of Saudi airstrikes targeting the country’s infrastructure.

The Huthi have also been accused of war crimes and the use of child soldiers.

About 130,000 people, including more than 13,000 civilians, have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

On Friday, the UN Security Council condemned the “horrific terrorist attacks” claimed by the Houthis in other parts of the Basque Country and Saudi Arabia, and stressed that the perpetrators should be “held accountable and brought to justice”.

“Human rights groups have criticized the Security Council’s unilateral approach. The council made a statement, but again only about the drone attack in Abu Dhabi, “James Bays of Al Jazeera said from New York.

“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has addressed the Saada massacre and other attacks in areas controlled by the Houthis. He called for a quick, efficient and transparent investigation. “

The BAC stressed that it and other members of the coalition remain committed to providing “proportionate” responses to the Houthi attacks.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement that the escalation of the conflict is “a major concern” for the United States, and called on all parties to unload.

Earlier, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to helping the Gulf allies improve their defense, stressing the “importance of mitigating civilian damage.”