Seven children among 16 killed in twin Yemen bombing

Seven children among 16 killed in twin Yemen bombing
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen carried out deadly twin airstrikes on Tuesday which have killed at least 16 people, including seven children.
2 min read
24 September, 2019
Children look onto a bombed out building in Yemen's Sanaa [Getty]
Seven children were among 16 people killed Tuesday in twin air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in southern Yemen, according to an official and a doctor.

Yemen army spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Sareea confirmed that seven children, four women and five men were killed while in the strike targeting a residence in Daleh province.

A doctor at Al-Thawra hospital in Ibb province where the bodies were taken also confirmed seven children and four women were among the dead.

The Iran-linked Houthi rebels condemned the coalition for its "continued aggression" against the Yemeni people, according to their Al-Masirah television channel. 

The Saudi-led coalition have yet to comment on the strike.

Read more: Yemen in Focus: Could a new Sudan withdraw from the Saudi-led coalition?

Tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in March 2015 in support of the beleaguered government.

Fighting since then has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and sparked what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Both pro-government forces and the Houthi rebels have been accused of committing war crimes.

The Saudi-led coalition has been blacklisted by the UN for the killing of children, while Riyadh and its allies accuse the Houthis of using civilians as human shields in densely populated areas.

Earlier this month, the Saudi-led coalition sparked further outrage over its war in Yemen when it targeted a Houthi-run prison, killing close to 130 people.

Amid global condemnation of the attack, the coalition denied it had deliberately targeted the prisoners, saying it was unaware that the area was being used as a detention centre.

The fighting has also displaced millions and left 24.1 million - more than two-thirds of the population - in need of aid.