Aftermath of coalition airstrike on a school in Haydan
(Image posted by Nasser Arrabyee, journalist, film maker)
Only days after US-backed Saudi coalition air strikes bombed the Akel food factory in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, killing at least 16 workers, a school has allegedly been hit in Haydan, northwestern Saada province. The attack on an area considered a Houthi stronghold resulted in multiple deaths and injuries.
President, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was forced to resign along with his government in January 2015 after the Houthis, Zaidi Shia rebels allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh moved in on Sanaa. The aim of Saudi Arabia’s intervention which began in the same year is to oust the pro-Iranian Houthi militias from the capital allowing Hadi back in control. The Kingdom spearheads a coalition of nine Arab states which has launched a series of attacks on Yemen.
Doctor Without Borders (MSF) whose hospitals in Yemen have also been hit, tweeted,
update: Final number of injured from Haydan school is 28 & 10 deaths. All between 8-15 years old #Saada #Yemen
Hassan Boucenine, the MSF head of mission in Yemen, told ABC, “the children who were killed died of multiple trauma and head injuries” and called on all warring parties to respect the lives of civilians. He stated, “civilian infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, must be respected. This war is now claiming a greater number of civilian lives and it must stop.”
Such was the anger at recent attacks, pictures circulated on social media showing Yemenis angry at alleged US-backed Saudi war crimes stabbing a picture of the Statue of Liberty declaring this a” BIG lie from Obama”
(Image via Nasser Arrabyee)
Zaheer, an election officer from Pakistan posted on Twitter saying,
This is brutality. Being custodian of Makkah & Madina doesnt allow Saudi to kill innocent people n children anywhere
So many victims are children were children under 15
(Image via Nasser Arrabyee)
New York Times reported,
“One bombardment in the village of Birken in the Razih District, near Yemen’s northern border with Saudi Arabia, struck the home of Ali Okri, a school principal, killing his wife and four of their children.
Then, in what has become known in the war here as a double tap, a second airstrike killed four more of Mr. Okri’s relatives as rescuers were trying to free them from the rubble.”
Injured children taken for treatment but even hospitals are not spared in Yemen (Images via Nasser Arrabyee)
Such is the concern over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record Foreign Policy highlighted that Republican Senator Rand Paul is “looking for ways to stop a $1.15 billion weapons deal with Riyadh that would include the sale of 130 Abrams battle tanks, 20 armored vehicles, and other military equipment” see following link,
With Yemeni Casualties Rising, GOP Senator Looks to Block Big Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
Links
“Yemen: Graphic photos emerge of aftermath of US backed Saudi Coalition strike on a food factory in Sanaa”
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 