Yemen: anti-aircraft fire cause of most civilian casualties in Sana'a, report says
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Version 0 of 1. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have caused the majority of civilian casualties in the nation’s capital Sana’a by firing anti-aircraft munitions that explode after landing in populated areas, a leading human rights watchdog has said in a report published two months into a Saudi-led air war. Amnesty International said anti-aircraft weapons “were the leading cause of casualties in the capital” in a report released on Thursday, which also blamed the Saudi-led coalition for contributing to the number of civilian casualties by bombing weapons depots near residential areas. Related: Court dismisses claim of German complicity in Yemeni drone killings The report’s findings, gleaned from a week-long visit to Sana’a and interviews with hospital staff, challenge the conventional wisdom that the air strikes are the direct cause of the high civilian toll of the conflict. But Amnesty urged both sides to take precautions to avoid civilian casualties and respect international humanitarian law. The World Health Organisation said that almost 2,000 people have been killed and nearly 8,000 wounded since 19 March. Wednesday was the deadliest day in the campaign, with 80 people killed. “Sana’a’s residents are caught in a deadly crossfire between the Saudi Arabian-led coalition airstrikes and anti-aircraft fire from the Houthi armed group,” said Lama Fakih, senior crisis adviser at Amnesty. “Both sides have failed to take the necessary precautions to protect civilian lives in violation of the laws of war. Instead they have carried out attacks that have had devastating consequences for the civilian population. For the civilians affected, it doesn’t matter which side is responsible. They pay the same price.” The Houthi rebels, members of the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam who hail from the northern province of Sa’ada, took control of the capital in a surprise offensive last year and placed the president, Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi, under house arrest. Hadi later escaped to his stronghold in Aden and fled to Saudi Arabia as the Houthis and their allies bore down on the southern port city. A coalition of mostly Arab Sunni states, led by Saudi Arabia, launched air strikes in response to the advance of the Houthis. The coalition sees the Houthis as proxies of Iran, and are unnerved by the Islamic Republic’s influence in Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut and Sana’a. So far both sides have displayed a chilling indifference to the deadly impact of their actions on civilians Doctors in the Yemeni capital told Amnesty that most of the wounded treated in their medical facilities arrived with injuries caused by anti-aircraft weapons, including fragmentation wounds. Saudi air strikes on weapons depots also caused secondary explosions that killed or maimed civilians, Amnesty said. Many military bases in the capital are located close to civilian homes, a deliberate strategy by former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted in Arab Spring-style protests and has now allied with the Houthis. “So far, both sides have displayed a chilling indifference to the deadly impact of their actions on civilians,” Fakih said. “All parties to the conflict can and should take all feasible steps to minimise the risk to civilians.” Air strikes resumed last week in Yemen after a five-day ceasefire, further worsening humanitarian conditions in the Arab world’s poorest country. Poverty relief charity Oxfam said on Monday that 16 million Yemenis, or two-thirds of the population, are now without access to a clean water supply and sanitation. Unicef said that as many as 135 children have been killed and 260 injured since the conflict escalated in March. |