Saudi Airstrikes Kill Nine Civilians in Northern Yemen

Attacks Targeted a Residential Building and a Flour Mill

Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out a pair of airstrikes against northern Yemen on Monday, killing at least nine civilians, including a number of children, and wounding several others.

The larger of the two strikes took place near Saada, a major Shi’ite-dominated city, attacking a residential building that housed an influential cleric. Though there’s no sign the cleric was killed seven other civilians were, including children, and five were injured.

Not far away, a small airstrike hit the same district, attacking a flour mill in a province already afflicted with mass starvation by a Saudi-led blockade of the region’s only port. Two civilians were killed, including a pregnant woman.

Saudi officials didn’t specifically say why they attacked either target, though they did issue a statement bragging of their “professionally planned” efforts to get more humanitarian aid into southern Yemen. Of course, southern Yemen is where pro-Saudi factions are, in efforts have already been made to support the “loyal” ports there, while civilians in the Shi’ite north struggle to survive.

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.