Saudi warplanes attacked and destroyed a house full of hiding civilians in Yemen’s northwestern Hajjah Province on Sunday, killing 21 civilians within. Locals say the victims were 20 women and a child.
Tribesmen familiar with the situation said that the house, in Tallan
village, was commonly used by the women in the village to hide during
clashes in the area. Since these tribes have recently aligned with the
Saudis, this is information that the Saudis ought to have had access to
when selecting targets.
This is a recurring problem with the Saudi War in Yemen, with Saudi
warplanes regularly hitting obviously civilian targets for no apparent
reason. As usual, the Saudi coalition itself has so far declined all
comment on the matter.
It is incidents like these that have led to a recent warning from the UN refugee agency that the Saudi war in Yemen averages 100 civilian casualties per week. Large civilian casualties throughout the war have fueled international outcry, and growing calls to stop arming the Saudis.
Saudi Airstrike Kills 21 Civilians in Northwest Yemen
House destroyed was used by women to hide during fighting
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.
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