Yemen: nine civilians killed in Saudi-led airstrike

Yemen’s Houthi group said Wednesday nine civilians were killed and seven others injured in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the northern al-Jawf province.

The group’s website, citing a security source, said two women were among the victims, while five children were injured in the attack.

The source said the airstrike targeted civilian homes in al-Masafa area in the provincial capital al-Hazm.

There was no comment from the Saudi-led coalition on the claim.

On Monday, the United Nations condemned an airstrike in Hajjah province that killed seven children and two women.

In the statement, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, said it was “incomprehensible that in the middle of the COVID pandemic, when options for a cease-fire are on the table, civilians continue being killed in Yemen”.

Yemen has been wracked by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crisis as millions are on the brink of starvation.

* Ibrahim Mukhtar contributed to this report from Ankara