RIYADH: Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen killed at least 31 civilians on Saturday, the United Nations said, an apparent retaliation after a Saudi fighter jet crashed with Iran-backed Huthi rebels claiming to have shot it down.
The Tornado aircraft came down Friday in northern Al-Jawf province during an operation to support government forces, a rare crash that prompted airstrikes in the area by a Saudi-led military coalition fighting the rebels.
The deadly violence follows an upsurge in fighting in northern Yemen between the warring parties that threatens to worsen the war-battered country’s humanitarian crisis.
“Preliminary field reports indicate that on 15 February as many as 31 civilians were killed and 12 others injured in strikes that hit Al-Hayjah area… in Al-Jawf governorate,” said a statement from the office of the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.
The UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande denounced the “terrible strikes”.
“Under international humanitarian law parties which resort to force are obligated to protect civilians. Five years into this conflict and belligerents are still failing to uphold this responsibility. It’s shocking,” she said.
The rebels said women and children were among the dead and wounded in retaliatory coalition airstrikes.
The coalition conceded the “possibility of collateral damage” during a “search and rescue operation” at the crash site.
A coalition statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency did not specify the fate of the crew or the cause of the crash.