Saudi attacks in Yemen have killed at least 232 civilians, including 68 children and 35 women, since Riyadh reignited the war by bombing the Sanaa International Airport on July 13, the Health Ministry within the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni government said on Saturday.
On top of the deaths, the Health Ministry said that 536 civilians, including 137 children and 72 women, have been wounded. The vast majority of the civilian casualties were inflicted in September and October, following the start of the ground offensive launched by Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis.
Civilian casualties spiked significantly toward the end of October, with two large-scale massacres of civilians reported last week. An October 28 Saudi bombing of a market in the northern al-Jawf province killed 14 civilians, and Saudi airstrikes hit two civilian homes in the southwestern Taiz province on October 29, killing 12 civilians, including multiple children.
The civilian casualties continued over the weekend, and on Sunday, Saudi airstrikes in the Taiz province killed at least one child and injured two girls, according to Yemen’s SABA news agency. Yahya Saree, spokesman for the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni Armed Forces, said dozens of Saudi strikes were launched over the past 24 hours.
“Over the past 24 hours, Saudi warplanes launched 75 airstrikes and missile attacks targeting civilian areas in the governorates of Saada, Taiz, Amran, Ibb, Dhamar, Lahj, Hodeidah, and Al-Jawf,” he wrote on Telegram, adding that the attacks were launched by US-made F-15 fighter jets and European-made Typhoon aircraft that took off from Saudi bases.
“This brings the total number of Saudi-led airstrikes and missile attacks since the escalation began to 3,830,” Saree said.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen was notorious for bombing civilian areas during the war in Yemen from 2015 to 2022, and the current conflict has followed a similar pattern. The US is strongly backing the Saudi bombing campaign by providing intelligence and refueling Saudi warplanes, a form of support the US suspended back in 2018 due to pressure from Congress.
