Saudi-led coalition regrets errors in Yemen bus attack

SANAA, Yemen — A Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels expressed on Saturday its regret and pledged to hold accountable those responsible for “mistakes” in a deadly airstrike it carried out last month that killed dozens, including many children, drawing wide international condemnation.

The coalition’s statement comes after its investigative body, known as the Joint Incidents Assessments Team, found that an August airstrike conducted in the northern Saada province hitting a bus carrying children in a busy market involved “mistakes,” including failing to take measures to minimize collateral damage. At least 51 people, including 40 children, were killed and 79 others, including 56 children, were wounded in the airstrike.

The statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said the coalition accepts the findings of its investigative body and that “it will take all the legal measures to hold accountable those who were proven to have committed mistakes” once it officially receives the findings. It also pledged to coordinate with Yemen’s government to compensate civilians.

Mansour Ahmed al-Mansour, JIAT’s legal adviser, said earlier the airstrike was launched based on intelligence that senior Houthi rebels, a legitimate military target, were on the bus.

He called on coalition forces to take legal procedures to ensure accountability and provide reparations for civilian victims. .

Last week, Human Rights Watch released a report criticizing JIAT’s investigations into the coalition’s alleged violations saying they had fallen short of “international standards regarding transparency, impartiality, and independence” and failed to identify a “clear way” to provide reparations to civilian victims of the airstrikes.