Saudi-led Air Raids in Yemen Kill 21 Two Days into Truce

Local Editor

Saudi-led air raids killed 21 civilians in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Monday, relatives of the victims and medics said, two days after the start of a United Nations [UN]-brokered humanitarian truce that Saudi Arabia does not recognize.

"Three [Saudi-led] missiles targeted the neighborhood, destroying 15 houses and killing 21 people and wounding 45 others," said a resident.

A Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out airstrikes against Yemen since March. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the UN.

The UN-proposed humanitarian truce technically went into effect at 2059 GMT on Friday and is supposed to run until July 17, the last day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

The UN-brokered pause in the fighting was meant to last a week to allow aid deliveries to the country’s 21 million people who have endured over three months of Saudi-led bombing.

However, the cease-fire, much needed to rush food supplies to a population threatened by famine, has been flouted by airstrikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition.

A Houthi leader, Saleh al-Samad, described the continued Saudi raids as presenting "a clear challenge to the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and seriously try to stop this aggression".

According to UN records, the Saudi attacks have killed more than 2,600 people and injured at least 11,000 since the military aggression began against Yemen on March 26.

The coalition has been bombing Yemen in a bid to restore to power Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.

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