ZIONIST AGGRESSION ON YEMEN: Yemen’s Sa’ada Targeted by over 200 Airstrikes in 2 Days

Saudi military aircraft carried out over 200 airstrikes against Yemen’s Northwestern province of Sa’ada in the past 48 hours, claiming the lives of tens of civilians.
The Saudi warplanes hit Sa’ada by more than 160 rockets early on Sunday, killing large groups of people.

Mer’an, Shad, Al-Hasameh, Al-Malahiz and Al-Marzaq regions of Sa’ada province were also bombed by Saudi warplanes.

The Yemeni health ministry, meantime, announced that 13 hospitals were destroyed during the Saudi air raids.

Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, described the Saudi-led airstrikes on Sa’ada province as blatant violation of human rights.

“The indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, with or without prior warning, is in contravention of international humanitarian law,” Van Der Klaauw said in a statement.

The UN official said he was particularly concerned about the airstrikes on Sa’ada “where thousands of civilians were reportedly killed and thousands were forced to flee their homes after the coalition declared the entire governorate a military target.”

He also restated that “all parties must avoid using populated areas as launching grounds for attacks.”

Yesterday, international aid groups announced that more than 70,000 Yemeni people, including 28,000 children, have been forced out of their homes in the Northwestern city of Sa’ada as Saudi warplanes resume pounding the Muslim Arab country.

A group of 17 agencies said that 70,000 people were fleeing Sa’ada as the monarchy had intensified its offensive on the city.

Groups like Oxfam, Islamic Relief, and Save the Children, condemned the growing intensity of the bombings in the city, saying there is an urgent need for the implementation of a lasting ceasefire in order for the humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to the needy across Yemen.

“There is an urgent need to halt hostilities in order to move humanitarian aid to the country,” CARE International’s local director in Yemen, Daw Mohamed, said, adding “All parties concerned should also come forward to work out a long-term political solution to the problem.”

Save the Children said that people were largely unable to flee due to a “de facto blockade” that had lead to severe fuel shortages, and expressed concern about the dropping of leaflets urging civilians to leave.

“The indiscriminate attacks after the dropping of leaflets urging civilians to leave Sa’ada raises concerns about the possible pattern being established in breach of International Humanitarian Law,” said Save the Children Yemen country director, Edward Santiago.

“Warning civilians does not exonerate the coalition from their obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and we have seen in the last days that the warnings have not been enough to spare civilian lives.”

In a bid to facilitate aid deliveries to the improvised country, Yemen’s Ansarullah and army accepted on Sunday a five-day humanitarian ceasefire proposed by Saudi Arabia

“Following mediation from friendly countries to establish a humanitarian truce… we announce our agreement,” said Colonel Sharaf Luqman, a spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 47 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 3,623 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

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

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

On April 21, Saudi Arabia declared end to Yemen airstrikes after weeks of bombings, but airstrikes are still underway.