22 MILLION IN YEMEN NEED HELP

Aid workers have described it as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22.2 million people in need of assistance.

The Houthi rebels control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa. The Dahyan district hit Thursday lies close to the Saudi border.

In recent months, rebels have fired missiles into the neighbouring kingdom, including on Wednesday in an attack that killed one. Col. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the attack in Saada targeted the rebels who had fired it. He said it was carried out “in accordance with international and humanitarian law and customs,” and accused the rebels of using the children as human shields.

The coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power after it was driven out of Sanaa by Shia rebels.

The coalition, which receives support and funding from the U.S. and U.K., has been criticized for its often indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said U.S. officials can’t confirm all the details about the attack, but are concerned about reports of civilian deaths.

“We call on the Saudi-led coalition to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident,” Nauert said. “We take all credible accounts of civilian casualties very seriously.”

According to the Campaign Against Arms Trade, the U.K. has licensed US$6billion worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since 2015.

Andrew Smith, from the organization, said: “This atrocity cannot be ignored. The U.K. government has been utterly complicit in the destruction. It has armed and supported the Saudi-led coalition right from the start.

“The death toll has spiralled and the humanitarian crisis has only got worse, and yet the arms sales have continued.” A Saudi blockade of Yemen left millions there on the brink of starvation and lacking the medicines needed to treat an outbreak of cholera.

Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for Yemen, has been urging the warring parties to restart peace talks and announced plans to invite them to Geneva on Sept 6.

Rebecca Rebarich, a Pentagon spokesman, said: “U.S. military support to our partners mitigates non-combatant casualties.

“Our support to the coalition consists of aerial refuelling and intelligence support to assist our partners in securing their borders from cross-border attacks from the Houthis.

“Our non-combat support focuses on improving coalition processes and procedures, especially regarding compliance with the law of armed conflict and best practices for reducing the risk of civilian casualties.”