Dozens of people were killed on Monday in an airstrike on a camp full of displaced refugees in Yemen. Two hundred others were injured in the airstrikes, which officials suspect were ordered by Saudi Arabia.
According to the Washington Post , the airstrikes took place at the Mazraq camp in the Hajjah province. The airstrikes mark the deadliest attack since the bombing of Shiite insurgents attempting to cross the country — another airstrike led by Saudi Arabian coalitions.
The source of the airstrikes has not yet been confirmed, but the Houthis, a group of Yemeni Shiite rebels, accused Saudi Arabia of leading the fatal attack. Ahmed Asiri, a spokesman for the Saudi coalition, implied that the airstrikes were a response to an attack on Saudi Arabian warplanes that took place on Monday. He claimed the gunfire led the coalition to make a “decisive response,” which could have been the airstrikes that killed dozens in Yemen.
Another tragedy in Yemen has also been linked to possible airstrikes. According to the South China Morning Post , an explosion at a dairy factory at the Hodaida port in Yemen killed at least 25 factory workers. The explosion has been attributed to another series of airstrikes led by Saudi Arabia, but it could have also been caused by a landing rocket in a nearby army base.
This airstrike is another major loss of civilian lives as a result of the Saudi-led coalition, the biggest since airstrikes were launched against the Houthi militia last week.
You can see the fiery aftermath of the airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians in the YouTube video below.
The goal of the Saudi Arabian coalition is to keep the Houthi militia from taking over Yemen and reinstate President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The coalition has been joined by several other Sunni Muslim states to execute the plan and win control of the nation. These airstrikes illustrate the lengths they will go to achieve these goals.
According to Unicef, the toll of the fighting has already been severe. At least 62 children have been killed in the conflict and 30 more wounded in the last week alone. The United Nations claims the airstrikes that killed dozens in the refugee camp in northern Yemen broke international law.
“People in Al Mazraq camp have been living in very harsh conditions since 2009,” said Pablo Marco from the charity organization Doctors Without Borders, “and now they have suffered the consequences of an airstrike on the camp.”