Civilians Killed as Saudi Warplanes Attack Yemen Department of Records

At Least Eight Killed, 58 Wounded in Strikes

Saudi warplanes carried out a raid against the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa on Sunday, bombing the nation’s department of records building, killing at least eight people, including a child, and wounding 58 others.

The Shi’ite Houthi movemet issued a statement saying that among the casualties were many civilians, but did not offer further details. The building would technically be considered part of Yemen’s “police,” though clearly not a military target in any way, shape, or form.

Yet this is common in Saudi airstrikes against targets in the Shi’ite part of Yemen, where decisions on what to bomb seem to be more based on whim than any particular military utility, and a bombed-out schoolhouse is just as likely to get bombed again as anything else.

As usual, Saudi officials have offered no comments on the strike, neither defending the decision to attack the site, nor providing any indication why this of all places happened to be a target on Sunday.

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.