Seven children and two women were killed in an air strike that also injured four civilians in Hajjah, in war-torn northern Yemen, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced on Monday July 13. .
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Located near the capital Sanaa, Hajjah is a front line between government forces, supported by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, and Houthi rebels, supported by Iran and who control part of the north, including Sanaa, since 2014. " Initial reports from the field indicate that on July 12, an air strike killed seven children and two women, " Ocha said in a statement. " Two other children and two women were injured, " the office added, adding that they had been hospitalized.
" It is incomprehensible that in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the options for a cease-fire are about to materialize, civilians continue to be killed in Yemen, " said Lise. Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen. The parties to the conflict have been accused by UN experts of having committed a " multitude of war crimes ". Saudi Arabia, which controls airspace and conducts air strikes, has been repeatedly accused of smuggling civilians.
1000 civilian victims reported in the past 6 months
On Monday, the coalition it leads recognized the " possibility of civilian casualties " during an operation targeting the Houthis on July 12 in Hajjah. The case was transferred to a team responsible for examining this type of " incident ". The coalition also announced that its forces " intercepted and destroyed seven drones and four ballistic missiles " launched by the Houthis towards Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to target " civilians and civilian objects ".
Nearly 1,000 civilian casualties linked to the conflict were reported in the first six months of 2020, Ocha said. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, most of them civilians, according to humanitarian organizations.
The UN describes the situation in Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with almost 80% of the population, or more than 24 million inhabitants, in need of some form of aid and protection. The country is likely to find itself again on the verge of " famine " and the UN does not have the " necessary resources " to prevent the catastrophe, Lise Grande warned last week.