Saudi strikes on Yemen may amount to war crimes: UN experts
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Thousands of Yemenis take part in a mass funeral in the city of Sa\'ada for children killed in a Saudi airstrike
United Nations human rights experts have raised the alarm at the high rate of civilian casualties in aerial assaults by Saudi Arabia and its allies on Yemen, saying the strikes “may amount to war crimes.”
In a 41-page report published on Tuesday, the Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen raised “serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the Saudi-led coalition.”
“Coalition airstrikes have caused most direct civilian casualties. The airstrikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities,” the report said.
Forces loyal to the former, fugitive Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Saudi-led coalition “may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes,” it added.
Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and the revolutionaries.
The Western-backed offensive initially consisted of a bombing campaign, but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces to Yemen.
The imposed war, however, has so far failed to achieve its goals, thanks to stiff resistance from Yemeni troops and Anasarullah fighters.
EA
