At least 19 children killed in airstrikes in Yemen, says UNICEF

At least 19 children were killed in airstrikes in northern Yemen last weekend, and wounded nearly as many, UNICEF said in a Thursday statement.

"UNICEF is sad to confirm that the recent attack in Al-Jawf, north of Yemen, on 15 February, took the lives of 19 children (eight boys and 11 girls) and injured another 18 (nine boys and another nine girls)," said Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UNICEF Representative in Yemen.

Last Saturday, Houthi rebels said that Saudi-led Arab coalition aircraft targeted Al-Jawf’s Al-Masloub district with several raids, killing 35 civilians and wounding others.

The attack was condemned by the UN.

"We were hopeful that peace would be on the horizon in Yemen," Nyanti said. "But the worrying escalation of violence over the past few weeks is a harsh reminder that children in Yemen continue to carry the heaviest burden of the conflict."

UNICEF appealed to all parties of the conflict to protect the lives of children by ending this brutal war, first and foremost.

"The daily suffering of children in Yemen should not be forgotten or go unnoticed," she added.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are now at risk of starvation, according to the UN.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat