zio-Saudi air strike kills 3, injures several in Yemen

Three people have been killed and several others injured in the latest Saudi-led airstrike on the northwestern Yemeni province of Hajjah.

Earlier on Tuesday night, Saudi warplanes also attacked Ma’rib and hit two targets in the northwestern city of Sa’da.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced that at least 62 children have been killed in Yemen since March 26, when the Saudi onslaught on the Arabian Peninsula country began.

“Children are in desperate need of protection, and all parties to the conflict should do all in their power to keep children safe,” said UNICEF’s representative for Yemen, Julien Harneis.

The European Union has also expressed concern over the civilian death toll in Yemen following days of Saudi-led airstrikes against the country.

“We are extremely concerned about the impact of the fighting in Yemen which has terrible consequences for the population,” said a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in a statement on Tuesday.

The EU added that it is distressed by the civilian casualties and that it has strong concerns over Monday’s air raid on the al-Mazrak displaced people camp in northwestern Yemen, which reportedly claimed the lives of some 45 people.

“We call on all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians, that civilian infrastructure is not directly targeted,” the statement added.

A Yemeni man clears up the debris in his house near the Sana’a International Airport on March 31, 2015, which was damaged in an air strike by Saudi-led warplanes. (AFP Photo)
Also on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein warned that Yemen is on the verge of complete collapse, as Saudi-led warplanes continue to pound Yemen for the sixth day.

He also expressed worries about the fatalities caused by the airstrikes, saying the situation in Yemen “is extremely alarming, with dozens of civilians killed over the past four days.”

The UN official went on to express shock over the al-Mazrak camp airstrike.

According to figures published by his office, over 90 civilians have been killed and nearly 370 injured since the Saudi invasion began in a bid to restore power to fugitive Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.