The last week saw a sharp escalation in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni Armed Forces.

While Ansar Allah continued to carry out operations against Saudi-led forces in the strategic Kahboub mountain range, east of Bab el-Mandab Strait, the Saudi-led coalition intensified its airstrikes across Yemen, attacking civilian and military targets alike.

Among the latest targeted civilian sites was the Al-Hadara livestock market in Taiz governorate, which Ansar Allah said was struck by an F-15 aircraft that took off from the Khamis Mushait base in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni Armed Forces’ spokesperson, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, stated that the assault left dozens of civilians killed and wounded, warning that “these brutal crimes will not pass without response and punishment.”

According to the Ansar Allah-run news agency Al-Masirah, the attack on the crowded popular market is the deadliest offensive against civilians in weeks.

The casualties from Al-Hadara add to the 266 civilians – including 86 children and 38 women – killed since Riyadh resumed its military escalation in Yemen last July. At least 641 others were wounded over the same period, the Health Ministry in Sanaa reported.

Member of Ansar Allah’s Supreme Political Council, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, condemned the attack on Al-Hadara market, saying:

“The continued targeting of markets and civilian facilities by the Saudi enemy constitutes a war crime.”

He further emphasized that the war crimes, which were committed by “the Saudi enemy” against civilians over the past 12 years, are imprescriptible, and “cannot achieve any victory.”

From BT News via This RSS Feed.