At least 14 civilians have been killed when Saudi-led warplanes conducted an airstrike on a crowded market in Yemen’s northern province of Sa’ada, as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its bombardment campaign against its southern neighbor.
Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah news website reported that the Saudi-led jets pounded the Al Sabet market in Qataber district of the province on Monday afternoon, killing 13 civilians, including two children.
It further said the aerial aggression also left 23 others, including 11 children, wounded. The report added that the airstrike occurred at a time when the market was overcrowded.
Yemen’s health ministry also said at least 10 of the wounded were in critical condition, warning that the death toll was likely to rise.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the country’s former regime back to power and crushing the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The Houthi fighters have been playing a significant in defending the impoverished nation against the Saudi war machine by backing the Yemeni army.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.
The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.