UNSC: Independent Probe Needed into Deadly Saudi Attack on Bus in Yemen

The United Nations Security Council believes a credible and transparent probe is needed into a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a bus in Yemen, in which dozens of children were killed, according to the British envoy to the UN. “They expressed their grave .

News ID: 71707

Date: 11 August 2018 - 15:36

TEHRAN (Defapress)_“They expressed their grave concern at these, and all other recent attacks in Yemen. They called for a credible and transparent investigation,” Karen Pierce, council president for August, said after a senior UN official briefed the 15-member council on the strike, Middle East News reported.“They expressed their grave concern at these, and all other recent attacks in Yemen. They called for a credible and transparent investigation,” Karen Pierce, council president for August, said after a senior UN official briefed the 15-member council on the strike.

The strike, in a busy market area in Northern Sa'ada has claimed the lives of over 50 civilians, many of them children between 10 and 13 years old, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The attack was condemned by numerous international organizations and top officials, including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who also called for a prompt investigation into the incident.

The Saudi-led coalition on Friday promised that it would conduct an investigation. It had previously deflected criticism of the attack as a legitimate military action against the Ansarullah.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 17,500 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

Reports by independent world bodies have warned that the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia's deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.

Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with more than 22 million people in need and is seeing a spike in needs, fuelled by ongoing conflict, a collapsing economy and diminished social services and livelihoods.

A UN panel has compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.
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