UN says Saudi-led air strikes killed 136 civilians in Yemen over past two weeks

GENEVA (Reuters) – Air strikes by the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen have killed at least 136 civilians and noncombatants since December 6, the UN human rights spokesman said on Tuesday.

Other UN officials said the coalition was maintaining tight restrictions on ships reaching Yemen even though 8 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine with the country relying on imports for the bulk of its food, fuel and medicine.

“We are deeply concerned at the recent surge in civilian casualties in Yemen as a result of intensified air strikes by the... coalition, following the killing of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on December 4,” human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.

Incidents verified by the UN human rights office included seven air strikes on a prison in the Shaub district of Sanaa on December 13 that killed at least 45 detainees thought to be loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is backed by Saudi Arabia.

“One can assume that was a mistake, they weren’t intending to kill prisoners from their own side,” Colville said. “It’s an illustration of lack of due precaution.”

Other air strikes killed 14 children and six adults in a farmhouse in Hodeidah governorate on December 15, as well as a woman and nine children returning from a wedding party in Marib governorate on December 16, he said.

Air strikes verified by the UN rights office in Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah and Taiz governorates also wounded 87 civilians.

“If in a specific event due precaution is not taken or civilians are deliberately targeted, that can easily be a war crime,” Colville said.

It is up to a court to make a ruling, he said, but there had been so many similar incidents in Yemen, it would be hard to conclude war crimes had not taken place.

On Tuesday Saudi air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired toward the capital Riyadh, but there were no reports of casualties, the coalition said, the latest in a series of attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen.

The restrictions on access to Yemen imposed by the coalition became a total blockade on November 6, though conditions were eased on November 25 to allow aid ships and some commercial cargoes to reach the shattered Arabian Peninsula country.

The UN World Food Program has brought in enough food for 1.8 million people for two months, but far more is needed.