UN denounces Saudi raid on western Yemen region

The United Nations has censured a deadly Saudi airstrike against a residential neighborhood in Yemen’s western and coastal province of Hudaydah, arguing that such aerial assaults against the impoverished Arab country have intensified since July.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement released on Friday, condemned the September 21 attack that claimed the lives of 32 civilians and left scores more injured in Souq al-Hanoud area in the province's al-Hawak district.

Meanwhile, Cécile Pouilly, the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, also expressed “deep concern” over increasing attacks against civilian facilities in Yemen, noting that at least 41 attacks were carried out against non-military sites last month and 180 civilians lost their lives.

“We note with deep concern the sharp increase in civilian casualties since the suspension of peace talks,” she said in a statement, adding, "We reiterate our call for the setting up of an international and independent investigative body."

On Friday, at least three civilians, including a woman, lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when Saudi fighter jets struck al-Humaydat district in Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf.

Saudi fighter jets bombarded a residential building in the Razih district of Yemen’s mountainous northwestern province of Sa’ada, located about 240 kilometers north of the capital Sana'a, early on Thursday, leaving nine people dead. Another six civilians sustained injuries in the attack.

Informed source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deceased were seven children and two pregnant women.

SS