US-backed Saudi airstrikes pounded targets across Ansar Allah-controlled Yemen on Wednesday, killing at least 12 civilians, including six children, according to the Health Ministry within the Sanaa-based Ansar Allah-led Yemeni government.
The majority of the casualties occurred in the southwestern Taiz province, where a Saudi airstrike hit a civilian home in the Hayfan District. According to the Health Ministry, the strike killed at least four people, including a woman and three children, and wounded four other people.
The Health Ministry also reported that a Saudi airstrike hit another civilian home in Taiz’s Maqbana district and killed seven civilians, including two children. Another 13 civilians were wounded, including seven children.
“Targeting populated homes constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights principles, and reflects a determination to target civilians and endanger their lives, the ministry said on Telegram.
Saudi strikes also hit the northern Saada province, where at least one child was killed, and two other people were injured. Footage of the aftermath broadcast by Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV showed what appeared to be remnants of a US-made precision-guided bomb.
Yahya Saree, spokesman for the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni Armed Forces, said that Saudi Arabia launched over 100 airstrikes and missile attacks in Yemen over the past 24 hours.
“Over the past 24 hours, Saudi warplanes launched 104 airstrikes and missile attacks targeting civilian areas in the capital, Sanaa, and the governorates of Al-Jawf, Al-Bayda, Sadaa, Amran, Marib, Taiz, and Lahj,” he wrote on Telegram.
“These attacks, carried out using F-15 and Typhoon aircraft operating from Khamis Mushait and Taif airbases, and missile strikes launched from Najran and Jizan, resulted in dozens of martyrs and wounded, mostly women and children,” Saree added.
The Saudi bombing campaign is strongly backed by the US, which has up to 200 military advisors deployed in Saudi Arabia to provide intelligence and targeting support. The US has also resumed refueling Saudi warplanes, a form of support that was cut off back in 2018.
