For the second time this week, Saudi warplanes have conducted airstrikes against the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, hitting residential buildings and killing a substantial number of civilians. At least 16 civilians were killed in today’s strikes, against targets in the city’s south, with at least seven children among the slain.
The attacks mostly hit a single building, killing everyone within. The casualties grew substantially, however, when an adjoining building also collapsed. Some civilians had escaped that building before it crumbled, but many were buried in the wreckage, so the death toll is not believed to be final.
This comes just two days after Saudi planes attacked and destroyed a hotel in the capital’s northern Arhab District, killing at least 60 people, including 42 civilians. The Saudis insisted that was a “legitimate military target.”
There has been no comment from the Saudis on this most recent strike, however, but with mounting civilian deaths, including a substantial number of children, being killed in airstrikes, they may feel uncomfortable trying to defend the campaign publicly.