Civilian casualties rise as Yemen offensive continues

AMID growing anger over civilian casualties from the Saudi-led coalition’s air strikes, at least 149 people have been killed in 24 hours of clashes between government loyalists and rebels in Yemen’s flashpoint city of Hodeida, medics and military sources said yesterday. A military official in Hodeida yesterday confirmed seven civilians had died, without giving further details. Medics in hospitals across the city reported 110 rebels and 32 loyalist fighters killed overnight, according to a tally by AFP. Military sources confirmed that the Saudi-led alliance had targeted the rebels with multiple air strikes. The battle for the strategic port of Hodeida has placed the lives of civilians in further danger as they have been struggling to live under the coalition blockade imposed last year.

For several weeks at the end of 2017, the Saudi coalition imposed a blockade on Yemeni ports that it said was to prevent Houthis from importing weapons. This had a severe impact on Yemen, which traditionally imports 90 percent of its food.

Yemen has been wracked by conflict since 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the former defense minister, and Saudi Arabia’s allies launched Operation Decisive Storm in March 2015.

The Saudi and UAE-led war in Yemen has caused growing international unease after high-profile coalition air strikes killed scores of civilians, many of them children.

In September, the Saudi-led coalition admitted that mistakes were made in an August air strike that killed 40 children, an event considered a war crime by the U.N. human rights body.