Saudis Attack Civilian Convoy in South Yemen, Killing 31

Victims Were Fleeing Fighting in City of Aden

Saudi warplanes attacked a civilian convoy north of the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, killing at least 31 civilians in what is among the single deadliest incident in the three month long Saudi war against Yemen.

Medical officials say the civilians were fleeing northward from Aden, a city which has been the site of constant fighting between pro-Saudi forces and Shi’ite Houthis. The convoy included a bus carrying 16 passengers, which was among the targets the warplanes hit.

Saudi strikes over the course of the war have killed many hundreds of civilians, over 1,000 by some reckonings, and appear to have done little to reverse Houthi gains in the territory, leaving their own faction with only a handful of possessions nationwide, and the leadership pretty much entirely in exile.

There are peace talks ongoing in Geneva aiming to resolve the war, though the Saudis aren’t directly in talks with the Houthis, and the pro-Saudi Yemeni “government-in-exile” is demanding unconditional Houthi surrender if they want to have any talks at all.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.