Saudi Airstrikes Kill Eight Civilians in Northern Yemen

Pro-Saudi Officials Describe Saada Attack as 'Mistake'

A pair of Saudi airstrikes in northern Yemen’s Saada Province have killed at least eight civilians, according to officials familiar with the situation. The strikes are the latest in an ever-growing number of Saudi attacks which hit civilian targets.

The larger of the two strikes destroyed a vehicle in Razah, killing five, which an official from the pro-Saudi Hadi government described as being hit “by mistake.” The second strike also hit a vehicle in Shadeh village, killing three more civilians.

This is the second time this week that incidents of civilian deaths have been reported in Saudi airstrikes, with previous attacks against the city of Ibb killing nine civilians. Last week, a major attack in Hodeidah killed dozens more civilians, targeting an area near the presidential palace.

A study released earlier this month on data from the 18-month long Saudi air war showed that approximately one in three airstrikes hit a civilian target, and that in many cases, obvious civilian gathering points in the Shi’ite north of Yemen were hit multiple times in succession.

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.