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UN calls for probe into Saudi-led coalition air raids in Yemen
Antonio Guterres condemns air raids by Saudi-led coalition on Saada city and urges all parties to protect civilians.
International
The UN chief has condemned air raids by the Saudi-led coalition on Saada city and called for an investigation into the attacks that killed more than 70 people in Yemen.
“The Secretary-General calls for prompt, effective and transparent investigations into these incidents to ensure accountability,” Antonio Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said.
A detention centre holding migrants in Saada city was bombed on Friday. Basheer Omar, a Red Cross spokesperson in Yemen, said rescuers continued to search for survivors. He said more than 100 people had been killed and wounded, according to the Red Cross count.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels and an aid group on Saturday claimed that the death toll had climbed to at least 82.
Al Jazeera, however, could not independently verify the casualty figures.
Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) put the number of wounded alone at “about 200”. Ahmed Mahat, MSF’s head of mission in Yemen, said they had reports of “many bodies still at the scene of the air strike, many missing people”.
Another Saudi air raid on Friday in the port city of Hodeidah – later confirmed by satellite photos analysed by the AP news agency – hit a telecommunication centre that is key to Yemen’s connection to the internet. Early on Saturday, the internet remained down.
Yemen’s Houthi Health Minister Taha al-Motawakel has appealed to the international community for medical aid. He accused the Saudi coalition of deliberately targeting civilians.