Saudi airstrikes and attacks launched by Saudi-backed forces on the ground killed at least eight Yemeni civilians and wounded 19 in three Yemeni provinces over the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry within the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni government.
The ministry wrote on Telegram that the casualties were recorded in the provinces of Saada, Taiz, and Hajjah, and that women and children were among the casualties.
The ministry added that it considered “the Saudi-led coalition’s attacks to be a direct targeting of civilians in their homes and service facilities, a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law which prohibits targeting civilians, and a systematic war crime that necessitates urgent action from the international community to hold those responsible accountable.”
Notable incidents over the past day included the bombing of a vehicle repair shop in the Taiz province, an attack that killed at least two people, according to Yemen’s SABA news agency. The Health Ministry said that Saudi-backed forces shelled a gas station in Taiz’s Sabr al-Mawadim District and that one woman was killed by shelling in the Jabal Habash District.
Other attacks included a Saudi airstrike on a drinking water tank in Taiz and a Saudi bombing that damaged a school and a mosque in Taiz’s Maqbanah District, which injured a girl. In Saada, two children were reported wounded by a Saudi airstrike near a school.
Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, has also been accused of killing civilians, with a rights group that’s critical of Ansar Allah reporting that four civilians were killed over a 48-hour period by Houthi shelling in the city of Taiz. Ansar Allah has had the city encircled for weeks, and civilians are suffering due to shortages caused by the fighting.
The Saudi-led coalition was notorious for bombing civilian areas in Yemen during the war from 2015 to 2022, and it has followed a similar pattern since Riyadh reignited the war back in July by bombing the Sanaa International Airport. The US is strongly backing the Saudi air campaign by providing intelligence and refueling Saudi warplanes.
Since early September, Saudi airstrikes have frequently hit civilian homes and caused devastating casualties. On Saturday, 17 civilians were reported killed by Saudi strikes on homes and housing units for workers at a cement factory.
