SANAA – Suspected Saudi-led strikes on a wedding ceremony in Yemeni Hajjahprovince have resulted in multiple casualties, including women andchildren. The death toll ranges from 20 to 50 people, reports citing localhealth officials say.
On Sunday, a reported Saudi-led missile strike hit a house where a weddingceremony was being held, in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah. Thereare conflicting reports on casualties. Numbers vary from 20, according toAP, to 50 people, according to local Saba News Agency. Meanwhile, Xinhuareports link> thatat least 40 people were killed or wounded, citing a senior health official,Mohammed al-Ashwal.
The same figures were given by the head of Al Jumhouri hospital in Hajjah,who said they received “40 bodies, most of them torn to pieces,” accordingto Reuters. Thirty children were among the 46 injured in the attack, theofficial said.
The death toll could rise, as some people are believed to still be underthe rubble, according to Saba. At the same time, “a dozen of the injuredare in critical condition,” al-Ashwal told Xinhua.
Riyadh, which has been repeatedly accused of indiscriminately bombingYemen, said it would investigate the latest tragedy. “We take this reportvery seriously,” a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition told Reuters,without elaborating.
A similar statement was made after the previous Saudi-led strike in Yemen,which lead to civilian casualties. On Friday, at least 20 people werekilled after the Saudi-led coalition reportedly hit a civilian vehicle inTaiz province.
Since Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen to fight the Houthi rebels and helpreinstate ousted President Mansour Hadi in March 2015, more than 5,500civilians were killed and over 9,000 injured as of the end of 2017,according to the UN.
During the years-long bombardment, civilian casualties have been repeatedlyblamed on Riyadh-led strikes.
One of the deadliest attacks occurred in September 2015, when an airstrikeon a wedding party killed more than 130 people. In November 2017, anotherbombing hit a market and a hotel building in the northern Saadah province,leaving 26 people dead. The coalition then released a statement claimingthe site was a legitimate target – a gathering point for Houthi fighters.
Another 2017 attack on a funeral ceremony, which resulted in more than 100people dead, amounted to a war crime, according to Human Rights Watch.
“Serious violations of the laws of war committed willfully – that is,intentionally or recklessly – are war crimes,” the watchdog said, addingthat the place and timing of the event were publicly available and thepresence of multiple civilians there was clear.