Saudi coalition raid kills 140 at Yemen funeral
Print Edition
THE Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen said yesterday it will investigate an air raid that killed more than 140 people at a funeral, after Washington announced it was reviewing support for the alliance.
The Huthi rebels blamed the coalition for Saturday’s attack, one of the deadliest since it launched a military campaign against the Shiite insurgents in March 2015.
The attack could further sour US-Saudi ties already strained over the coalition’s military intervention which is suspected of causing almost half the more than 4,000 civilian deaths in Yemen’s conflict.
After initially denying any responsibility, the coalition said it was ready to launch an investigation into the “regrettable and painful” strike, which the UN said also wounded more than 520 people.
“The coalition will immediately investigate this case along with experts from the United States who participated in previous investigations,” it said. “The coalition is also willing to provide the investigation team with any data and information related to its military operations today, at the incident’s location and the surrounding areas.”
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon demanded a prompt and impartial probe. “Those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice,” he said.
The Huthis accused the coalition of a “massacre,” saying its planes hit a gathering of hundreds mourning the death of the father of rebel interior minister Jalal al-Rowaishan.
They did not say if Rowaishan was in the building at the time, nor did they indicate if other senior figures were attending.
But Abdel Qader Hilal, Sanaa’s mayor, was among those killed, according to the rebels’ Almasirah television.
Thousands of angry protesters took to the streets of the city yesterday, chanting slogans against Saudi Arabia and the US.
White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said: “We are deeply disturbed by reports of today’s airstrike on a funeral hall in Yemen, which, if confirmed, would continue the troubling series of attacks striking Yemeni civilians.
“In light of this and other recent incidents, we have initiated an immediate review of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led coalition and are prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with US principles, values and interests.
“US security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check,” Price added, calling for an immediate cease-fire.
In August, the US military said it had slashed its number of intelligence advisers supporting the coalition following concerns over civilian casualties.
In September 2015, a suspected coalition strike killed at least 131 civilians at a wedding near the Red Sea city of Mokha. The Saudi-led alliance denied involvement.
And in March this year, Saudi-led air raids on a market killed at least 119 people, including 106 civilians, 24 of them children, in the northern rebel-held province of Hajja.
The conflict has killed more than 6,700 people, almost two-thirds of them civilians, and displaced at least three million since the coalition launched military operations, according to the United Nations.
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