GENEVA — Despite Saudi Arabia’s claims to have halted its air offensive over Yemen, Saudi bombing runs have killed dozens of civilians in recent days, United Nations officials said Friday.
“We have recorded a number of airstrikes that have hit military and civilian positions in Sanaa, Ibb, Hajja and Taiz,” Rupert Coleville, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters. He said one incident on Wednesday in Ibb governorate killed 40 civilians, including seven children, when Saudi planes bombed a bridge then returned and bombed the bridge a second time.
“Civilians gathering to help those injured by the first airstrikes were reportedly hit by the second,” Colville said.
Similarly, the U.N. Office for the Coordina- tion of Humanitarian Affairs reported that airstrikes on Thursday hit areas in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, as well as Taiz, Aden, Sadaa and Al Dhale governorates. The airport in Aden was also bombed, the agency said.
In recent weeks, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, other U.N. officials and international human rights groups have warned that targeting of civilians not taking part in hostilities may amount to war crimes.
“It is imperative that all parties to the conflict protect civilians from the effects of the fighting in compliance with international humanitarian law,” said Johannes van der Klaauw, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.
Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that it was ending its bombing campaign after 26 days. But U.N. officials said civilians have been killed in bombing raids since, and on Friday, Amnesty International called for an urgent investigation in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the injury of thousands during “the relentless Saudi Arabia-led campaign of airstrikes across Yemen.”
Amnesty said it had documented eight strikes in five densely populated areas — Sadah, Sanaa, Hodeidah, Hajjah and Ibb — and said that “several of these strikes raise concerns about compliance” with international law.
In Washington, Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said the United States continues to refuel Saudi aircraft. “We are still flying a tanker a day to be available if needed,” he said. “It’s like having a gas station in the sky.”
Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, which overseas U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said Saudi Arabia had never promised to stop all bombing.