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| Explosion Destroys Ancient Cultural Heritage Site in Yemen Capital | Explosion Destroys Ancient Cultural Heritage Site in Yemen Capital |
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| A protected 2,500-year-old cultural heritage site in Yemen’s capital was obliterated in an explosion early Friday, and witnesses and news reports said the cause was a missile or bomb from Saudi Arabia-led warplanes. The Saudi military denied responsibility. | |
| The top antiquities-safeguarding official at the United Nations angrily condemned the destruction of ancient multistory homes, towers and gardens, which also killed an unspecified number of residents in Al Qasimi, a neighborhood in Sana’s Old City area. | |
| “I am profoundly distressed by the loss of human lives as well as the damage inflicted on one of the world’s oldest jewels of Islamic urban landscape,” said the official, Irina Bokova, the director general of Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. | “I am profoundly distressed by the loss of human lives as well as the damage inflicted on one of the world’s oldest jewels of Islamic urban landscape,” said the official, Irina Bokova, the director general of Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. |
| “I am shocked by the images of these magnificent many-story tower-houses and serene gardens reduced to rubble,” she said in a statement posted on the Unesco website. | “I am shocked by the images of these magnificent many-story tower-houses and serene gardens reduced to rubble,” she said in a statement posted on the Unesco website. |
| Photographs from the scene and witness accounts posted on social media said the attack destroyed at least five houses and caused irreparable damage to the area, registered as a Unesco World Heritage Site. | Photographs from the scene and witness accounts posted on social media said the attack destroyed at least five houses and caused irreparable damage to the area, registered as a Unesco World Heritage Site. |
| A coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen, the Middle East’s most impoverished country, for more than two months in a concerted campaign against the Houthi insurgent group, which is allied with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival. | A coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen, the Middle East’s most impoverished country, for more than two months in a concerted campaign against the Houthi insurgent group, which is allied with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival. |
| Hours after the destruction in Sana’s Old City there was no confirmation of the precise cause. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying that the coalition did not carry out an attack and suggested that a rebel ammunition storehouse might have exploded. Houthi fighters quoted in local news outlets denied having anything to do with the destruction. | Hours after the destruction in Sana’s Old City there was no confirmation of the precise cause. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying that the coalition did not carry out an attack and suggested that a rebel ammunition storehouse might have exploded. Houthi fighters quoted in local news outlets denied having anything to do with the destruction. |
| The Saudis have said their aerial bombings are aimed strictly at military targets. But according to the World Health Organization, more than 2,500 people have been killed and more than 11,000 wounded in the two-month campaign, and fears have grown steadily that the nation of 25 million is verging on collapse, with 80 percent of the population in need of humanitarian aid. | The Saudis have said their aerial bombings are aimed strictly at military targets. But according to the World Health Organization, more than 2,500 people have been killed and more than 11,000 wounded in the two-month campaign, and fears have grown steadily that the nation of 25 million is verging on collapse, with 80 percent of the population in need of humanitarian aid. |
| The Old City destruction in Sana came two days before peace talks sponsored by the United Nations are scheduled to be convened in Geneva to find a solution to the Yemen crisis. | The Old City destruction in Sana came two days before peace talks sponsored by the United Nations are scheduled to be convened in Geneva to find a solution to the Yemen crisis. |
| Destruction of cultural antiquities in the Middle East, one of the cradles of civilization, has now become an integral part of the mayhem convulsing the region. | Destruction of cultural antiquities in the Middle East, one of the cradles of civilization, has now become an integral part of the mayhem convulsing the region. |
| Islamic State insurgents in Syria and Iraq have flaunted their vandalism of treasured archaeological sites and historically important relics in recent months. | Islamic State insurgents in Syria and Iraq have flaunted their vandalism of treasured archaeological sites and historically important relics in recent months. |
| Two weeks ago, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution aimed at thwarting and prosecuting antiquities vandals and smugglers. | Two weeks ago, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution aimed at thwarting and prosecuting antiquities vandals and smugglers. |