Saudi Airstrikes Kill 36 in Attack on Yemen Bottling Plant

Officials Claim Plant Was 'Bomb-Making Facility'

Saudi warplanes attacked a bottling camp in the Hajjah Province of northern Yemen today, killing 36 workers at the factory, who were identified as civilians by local residents. This was the latest in a long line of huge civilian tolls in the Saudi war.

While Saudi officials usually shrug off the huge death tolls of their war, today they felt the need to deny that the death toll was wholly civilian, claiming the factory was a “bomb-making facility” and that 17 of the 36 people they killed were Houthis, with the rest civilian workers.

Oddly ,the Saudi statement claimed also that the plant was next door to a rebel training facility, and that the Houthis killed were at the training ground, and not the bottling plant. Though locals confirmed Houthi sites in the area were targeted, they affirmed the 36 civilian toll.

Saudi warplanes have been bombing targets across Yemen since March, demanding the re-installation of former President Hadi, who resigned in January. Hadi is in exile in Saudi Arabia, and insists he is still the rightful government of Yemen.

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.