SANAA: The United Nations and humanitarian workers on Sunday condemned an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition targeting Yemen’s Shia rebels that reportedly killed at least 15 civilians near the port city of Hodeida.

Video footage released by the rebels, known as Houthis, showed a mangled minibus littered with groceries and a woman’s hand bag, with rebel officials saying a day earlier that the air strike in the Jebel Ras area had also wounded 20 others.

The Houthis said that five members of the same family were killed in the vehicle, adding that many women and children were among the casualties. Eyewitnesses who declined to be named for fear of their safety said that the attack appeared to target a rebel checkpoint in the area.

“The United Nations agencies working in Yemen unequivocally condemn the attack on civilians and extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” said Lise Grande, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen.

“Under international humanitarian law, parties to the conflict are obliged to respect the principles of precaution, proportionality and distinction,” said Grande. “Belligerents must do everything possible to protect civilians not hurt, maim, injure or kill them,” she added.

The Norwegian Refugee Council also condemned the attack, calling such strikes on Yemeni civilians “unacceptable” acts that have taken on a chillingly regular frequency.

“Attacks that kill and maim civilians are no longer an anomaly in Yemen’s war,” the humanitarian group said in a statement, summing up a rising and regular toll of civilian casualties since last summer.

“The drumbeat of assaults on men, women and children is one that has become appallingly routine,” it added.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2018