The head of the UN condemned the airstrikes of the Saudi-led coalition against the city of Saada and called for an investigation into the attacks that killed more than 70 people in Yemen.
“The Secretary-General calls for swift, effective and transparent investigations into these incidents to ensure accountability,” said Antonio Guterres spokesman Stefan Dujarric.
The Saada Migrant Detention Center was bombed on Friday. Bashir Omar, a spokesman for the Yemeni Red Cross, said rescuers were still searching for survivors. He said more than 100 people had been killed and injured according to the Red Cross census.
Yemeni Hussein rebels and an aid group said Saturday that the death toll had risen to at least 82.
However, al-Jazeera could not independently verify the details of the victims.
The Saudi-led coalition has carried out deadly airstrikes in Saada and the port city of Hodeidah. (Al Jazeera)Doctors Without Borders (MSF) estimates the number of injured at only “around 200”. Ahmed Mahat, head of the MSF mission in Yemen, said there were reports of “many bodies still at the scene of the air strike, many people missing.”
Another Saudi airstrike in the port city of Hodeidah on Friday – later confirmed by satellite images analyzed by the AP – hit a telecommunications center that is key to Yemen’s internet connection. Early on Saturday, the Internet remained inactive.
Yemeni Health Minister Hussein Taha al-Motawakel has called on the international community for medical help. He accused the Saudi coalition of deliberately targeting civilians.
“We consider this a war crime against humanity. “The world must take responsibility at this critical time in human history,” he said.
Huti al-Masirah, a satellite TV news channel, said an attack on the telecommunications building had killed and injured an unspecified number of people. He released chaotic footage of people digging in rubble for corpses while aid workers helped the bloodied survivors.
People inspect the remains of buildings damaged by airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa on Tuesday [Hani Mohammed/AP Photo]Save the Children said at least three children were killed in the Hodeida attack.
Airstrikes also struck near the Hutu-held capital of Sanaa since late 2014. At least 14 people were killed in Saudi airstrikes in Sanaa on Tuesday.
Intensive campaign
The intense campaign comes after Iranian-backed Houthis called for a drone and missile attack that struck the UAE capital earlier this week – a major escalation of the conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition with an UAE member is carrying out air strikes since 2015
Mohammed Al Atab of Al Jazeera, reporting from Sanaa, said the attacks had sparked nationwide condemnation by Hussites and various human rights groups in Yemen.
“The Houthi-run Ministry of Human Rights has called for an investigation into the attacks,” he said.
Eight aid agencies operating in Yemen said in a joint statement that they were “horrified” by the Saada killing, which involved women and children.
“Migrants looking for a better life for themselves and their families, Yemeni civilians wounded by the dozens, is a picture we never hoped to wake up in Yemen,” said Gillian Moyes, director of Save the Children. Yemen.
Jamal Benomar, a former UN special envoy to Yemen, said the airstrikes were the latest in a series of war crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition.
“There has been no responsibility since the beginning of this war. This is a failure not only of the United States but also of the permanent members of the Security Council.
“The reality is that all five members, instead of cooperating to try to find a way to force the Saudis to end the war in Yemen and force the Yemeni countries to enter the political process in good faith to end this struggle, they in fact, they are competing for lucrative contracts with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, “he said.
“So the highest body in the world, the United Nations, the Security Council, the members have not played, I’m afraid, a positive role in the last few years.
The Saudi-led coalition denies carrying out the attack in Saada
The Saudi-led coalition has denied carrying out the attack in Saada. Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki said the Hussites had not reported that the site needed protection from airstrikes by the United Nations or the International Committee of the Red Cross.
He argues that the failure of the Hussites to do so was the “usual fraudulent approach” of the militia in the conflict. Al-Malki’s claim cannot be immediately verified by international agencies.
The Saudi-led coalition has admitted to carrying out “accurate air strikes to destroy militia capabilities” around Hodeidah’s port. He did not immediately confirm that he had targeted a telecommunications target, but instead called Hodeida a center for piracy and smuggling of Iranian weapons in support of the Hutus.
Iran has denied arming the Houthis, although UN experts, independent analysts and Western nations have cited evidence showing Tehran’s links to weapons.
Houthi supporters rallied on Friday, calling the airstrikes an “American escalation.” Houthi media spread videos with thousands on the streets. The Hutus generally equate the Saudi-led coalition with the United States, condemning America.
The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to try to restore the country’s internationally recognized government, overthrown by the Hussites a year earlier.
The conflict has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with international criticism of Saudi airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians and targeted the country’s infrastructure.
The Hutus are also accused of war crimes and the use of child soldiers.
About 130,000 people, including more than 13,000 civilians, have been killed, according to the draft data on the location and events of the armed conflict.
On Friday, the UN Security Council condemned the “disgusting terrorist attacks” in the UAE, as well as in other sites in Saudi Arabia claimed by the Hussites, and stressed the need to hold perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice.
“Human rights groups have criticized the Security Council’s approach as one-sided. The council did come out with a statement, but again only about the drone attack on Abu Dhabi, “said James Bays of Al Jazeera, a report from New York.
“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has turned to the Saada massacre and other attacks in Hutu-controlled areas. He called for swift, effective and transparent investigations. “
The UAE has insisted that they and other members of the coalition remain committed to “proportional” responses to Hutu attacks.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a separate statement that the escalation of the conflict was a “major concern” for the United States and called on all countries to de-escalate.
Earlier, he spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud to reaffirm the US commitment to help the Gulf allies improve their defenses, stressing “the importance of mitigating civilian damage,” the State Department said.