In Yemen, the bloody battle never ends. More than 100 dead this Friday and the balance sheet is likely to increase because the wounded are numerous. During the night of Thursday to Friday, an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition fell on a prison in Saada in the north of the country, held by Houthi rebels. This deluge of fire which claimed at least 100 victims “is not acceptable”, denounced the Norwegian ambassador to the UN, Mona Juul, who chairs the Security Council for the month of January. The NGO Save The Children also indicated that at least three children had been killed during this air raid which also targeted the Yemeni port city of Hodeida. “The children were apparently playing on a nearby soccer field when the missiles hit,” said the director of the NGO in Yemen, Gillian Moyes.
“We are very concerned […] and call for de-escalation and restraint”, Mona Juul told a few journalists, just before the start of an emergency meeting behind closed doors of the Security Council on Monday’s attacks by the Houthis in the United Arab Emirates.
For its part, the coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and in which the United Arab Emirates participate, highlights “a proportionate response in all its military operations”, said Friday the Emirati ambassador to the UN, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, questioned on this deadly strike on the prison of Saada.
“The coalition is committed to respecting international law” in this war, also affirmed the diplomat. In the night from Thursday to Friday, coalition bombers also hit Hodeida, a town in western Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels, destroying a telecommunications center. The pro-government coalition said it was aiming for a “hub of piracy and organized crime” in this vital port city for the country at war. The organization NetBlocks, which specializes in monitoring the Internet around the world, reported a “collapse of internet connections in the country” after the bombings. AFP correspondents in Hodeidah and Sanaa confirmed the outage.
Monday, it was the rebels who claimed responsibility for a drone and missile attack that targeted oil installations and the airport in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, killing three people and injuring six. According to the United Nations, the conflict in Yemen has claimed 377,000 lives, direct and indirect victims of a war that has lasted for more than seven years.