Sanaa : More than 140 people were killed and more than 525 wounded when air strikes hit a funeral ceremony in Yemen, a United Nations official said, with Huthi rebels blaming the attack on the Saudi-led coalition, reports AFP. The coalition, which has come under increasing international scrutiny over alleged civilian deaths, denied any responsibility for the attack. “The toll is very high: more than 520 wounded and more than 100 martyrs,” the spokesman of the health ministry in Sanaa, Tamim al-Shami, told rebel Almasirah television.
It was one of the deadliest attacks since the coalition launched a bombing campaign against the Shiite Huthis in March 2015. Riyadh’s key ally Washington promptly warned it had launched an “immediate review” of support to the Saudi-led coalition, and that its security cooperation with Saudi Arabia was “not a blank check.” The UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, said aid workers were “shocked and outraged” by the attacks that hit a community hall in the capital Sanaa yesterday where mourners had gathered. He called for an immediate investigation and said the international community must exert pressure to ensure civilians are protected. “This violence against civilians in Yemen must stop immediately,” said McGoldrick.
A “horrified and extremely disturbed” UN Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien called for a prompt and “impartial” probe into the attacks. “I also call on all parties to protect civilians and stop using explosive weapons or conducting aerial bombardments in civilian-populated places in Yemen. Surely enough is enough,” he added. “This horrendous and heinous attack displayed an utter disregard for human life.”
On Saturday, emergency workers pulled out at least 20 charred remains and body parts from the gutted building in southern Sanaa as others scoured the wreckage for survivors.
Some of the wounded had their legs torn off and were being treated on the spot by volunteers, he said. In a statement to AFP, the Saudi-led coalition said it had no operations at the location and “other causes” for the incident must be considered. The coalition “has in the past avoided such gatherings and (they) have never been a subject of targeting”, it said.
In September 2015, a suspected coalition air strike killed at least 131 civilians at a wedding near the Red Sea city of Mokha.
The Saudi-led alliance then also denied any involvement. And in March this year, Saudi-led air strikes on a market killed at least 119 people, including 106 civilians, of which 24 were children, in the northern rebel-held province of Hajja.
