Local Editor
The United Nations have censured a Saudi strike that targeted a funeral ceremony near capital Sana’a, killing nine women and a child.
The world body’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed shock over the incident in a statement.
“The manner in which the parties to the conflict are waging this war is taking an unacceptable toll on the civilian population in Yemen and as illustrated by this most recent tragedy, women and children are paying with their lives,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick in the statement.
“I am alarmed to see this tragic loss of life further escalate the fighting, with reports of a retaliatory ballistic missile strike into Saudi Arabia’s Asir region,” he added.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a separate statement that Yemeni civilians were losing their lives on a daily basis in indiscriminate attacks by the parties to the conflict.
“Attacks on civilians are unjustifiable, regardless of the circumstances. Women and children in particular have been subjected to unspeakable suffering in this brutal conflict. This should stop immediately,” he said.
Ahmed pointed to the existing humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen caused by aggravating clashes on the Red Sea coast, saying tens of thousands of civilians have been caught in the war zone without access to humanitarian assistance and unable to flee to safety.
This is the latest in a series of such airstrikes since 2015, when the Saudis launched the military campaign in support of the former Yemeni government, a close Riyadh ally.
Last year, Saudi airstrikes hit a funeral hall in Sana’a, killing 140 mourners, including children, and wounded over 600 others.
Saudi Arabia has come under international opprobrium for the sheer size of the casualties from the war it is leading since March 2015 to crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement and bring back the former Yemeni government to power.
The offensive has so far killed 11,403 amid countless reports suggesting deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure by Saudi jets and mercenaries.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
