A Yemen air strike carried out on Sunday reportedly killed 36 people who were working at a bottling plant. The strike is said to have been initiated by an alliance targeting the Houthi forces. This is just the latest attack in a conflict that has now claimed thousands of lives.
As Reuters details, the Yemen air strike killed three dozen civilians at the plant. However, the group claiming responsibility says that the attack was not on a bottling factory, but a bomb-making factory. The attackers are a Saudi-led coalition who insist that the plant utilizes African migrants, and they insist that their information was accurate.
The BBC details that nearly 4,500 people have died since this coalition began its air campaign at the end of March. The group is aiming to restore President Hadi to power and end the control by the Houthis. Of those who have been killed in the Yemen air strikes, 1,950 are reported to have been civilians.
Other Yemen air strikes in recent days killed 65 people in the city of Taiz, and most of those who died are said to have been civilians as well. Another strike in July hit a milk factory and left 65 people dead, with 10 children among those killed. Sunday’s violence also involved a bombing near the empty U.S. Embassy. In addition, a security officer was shot and killed in the city of Aden.
The months-long conflict began after rebels took over the capital in San’a, details the Wall Street Journal . The conflict led to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi taking exile in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis are said to have emerged from the rural northwest area of Yemen, and they are a group that follow a Shiite Islam offshoot group. Iran’s Shiite have been accused of supporting the Houthi, though Iran denies it. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has a growing presence in the area as well and some suspect they could be behind some of the weekend violence.
The violence that has played out over the past few months has created a humanitarian catastrophe, says the United Nations. A huge percentage of the country’s population is in dire need of humanitarian aid as the stability of the area declines.
As the Saudi-led Yemen air strikes continue, and the Houthi group continues its push to control the area, many civilians are caught in the middle in what Amnesty International calls a “bloody trail of civilian death.” Experts indicate that the violence could lead to war crimes as the warring seeming escalates with no end in sight.
[Photo via Australian News ]