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11 killed in Saudi aerial attacks on Yemen's Jawf Province

Monday, 21 March 2016 2:41 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 21 March 2016 2:49 PM ]

Yemenis check the rubble of buildings destroyed in an airstrike by Saudi jets in the capital Sana'a on February 10, 2016. (AFP photo)

Nearly a dozen people have been killed in a series of airstrikes carried out by Saudi warplanes in Yemen’s Jawf Province, local media say.

The Yemeni al-Masirah television said on Monday that at least seven civilians lost their lives after Saudi fighter jets bombed Dahouk Academy in al-Matun district of the troubled northern province.

Separately, an airstrike against two trucks carrying food in the same volatile district killed at least four people.

Saudi warplanes also pounded a crowded marketplace in al-Masloub district of Jawf Province. But there was no immediate report on casualties.

Saudi Arabia continues to bomb Yemen causing more death and destruction to its impoverished neighboring Arab state. A number of civilians are also feared killed as Saudi jets have bombed several civilian targets in Zimar, Ibb, Ma'rib and Sana’a provinces over the past few hours.

On Tuesday, Saudi warplanes bombed a crowded market in the Yemeni province of Hajjah. The bombing killed 119 people, including 22 children, drawing international condemnation.

A Yemeni boy walks amid the ruins of a school and a bowling club hit by Saudi airstrike in the capital Sana'a, on February 12, 2016. (AFP photo)

In an apparent bid to divert mounting criticism of the military aggression, General Ahmed al-Asiri, a Saudi military spokesman, said on Thursday that Riyadh will scale down combat operations in Yemen. However, al-Asiri stressed that the kingdom will continue to provide air support to Yemen’s former regime loyalists battling Houthi Ansarullah fighters and allied army units on the ground.

Riyadh has been under fire from international organizations and rights groups over the rising number of civilian casualties in Yemen.

Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Friday that Saudi Arabia and its allies may be committing crimes against humanity due to their indiscriminate killing of civilians in Yemen.

The world body has already warned of a "human catastrophe unfolding in Yemen."

Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen in March last year in a bid to bring the country’s former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh, back to power and undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

More than 8,000 people, among them over 2,000 children, have been killed and at least 16,000 others injured since the onset of the aggression.

The Saudi strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

The United States has provided logistical and intelligence support to the Saudi air war.

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