Saudi Aggression Commits New Massacre in Yemen’s Ibb

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday condemned the multiple airstrikes by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition on September 21 in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah, Yemen, which killed and injured dozens of people, including children and women.

This new reported death toll comes in the wake of a particularly bloody airstrike earlier this week in Hodeidah, where at least 32 civilians were killed.

An official medic of Ibb’s government-run al-Thawra hospital confirmed to Xinhua the toll, saying the 10 dead included women, children and teenagers.

“Sadly, the indifference of the global community and continued sale of all kinds of arms to Saudi Arabia have emboldened this regime in its attacks on the oppressed and defenceless people of Yemen”, foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB. More than 30 civilians have been killed in rebel bombardments of the Najran area since the coalition intervention began.

By Thursday, the number of civilians killed this month had reached 149, she added, of which 126 were attributed to the coalition and nine to pro-Houthi groups, with others mostly killed by groups that were either linked to Daesh (ISIL) or had not been identified.

The Houthis seized Ibb and half of the country’s north in 2014, forcing internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee into exile. Fighting resumed after August 6, when talks collapsed between the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s fugitive former president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and forces aligned with Houthis.

The outbreak of war prompted foreign countries to close their embassies and evacuate their staff.