Saudis Continue to Ignore Ceasefire, Kill 25 Civilians in Yemen Capital

Monday Morning Strike Hit Slums in Sanaa

UN officials are expressing “disappointment” at the Yemen humanitarian ceasefire, which never took hold amid ongoing Saudi airstrikes against the country. Saudi officials insist they never agreed to the deal in the first place.

In their latest round of attacks, Saudi warplanes pounded the Sawan slums in the capital city of Sanaa, killing at least 25 civilians and wounding another 50 according to local officials. The strikes landed in a residential neighborhood near a military base, but did not appear to hit the base itself.

Sawan was just one of dozens of targets of Saudi airstrikes over the course of Monday, with reports that 10 different Yemeni provinces were hit throughout the day. The Sawan incident did have by far the largest death toll of the bunch, however.

Clashes also continued to pick up on the ground, as Houthi forces and those loyal to the pro-Saudi Hadi government clashed in Aden and Taiz, with reports of resumed fighting in Maarib as well. The Hadi forces had taken a significant suburb of Aden yesterday in an offensive, despite the ceasefire nominally being in place.

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.