Recent image. Rescuers search for survivors under the collapsed roof of a house hit by Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 January, 2022. (Photo credit: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)
The Saudi-led coalition has continued with its aggression against Yemen, carrying out dozens of airstrikes and artillery attacks across the country on 27 February which killed one civilian and injured at least three.
Local media outlets reported that the casualty was recorded in Saada province when the coalition shelled a village located near the border with Saudi Arabia. This was the second time the village was shelled over the last seven days.
The coalition claims that the attacks target members of the Yemeni armed forces who it accuses of using the village to launch cross-border attacks. The Yemen army has strongly refuted these allegations.
According to media reports, the coalition also carried out dozens of airstrikes in Marib and Hodeidah provinces, resulting in significant damage to commercial and residential buildings.
It is not yet clear if there were any casualties in these attacks.
The Saudi-led coalition routinely bombs civilian residential areas and infrastructure, such as hospitals, water wells, schools, telecommunication towers, and power plants.
This conduct amounts to war crimes under the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which prohibits attacks on unarmed civilians and buildings.
The government of Yemen has accused the international community of turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the coalition against the people of Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni Armed Forces and fighters from the allied Popular Committees have continued to make progress against the Saudi-led coalition and the mercenaries fighting alongside it.
On 28 February, the Yemen army shot down US-made ScanEagle reconnaissance drone belonging to the coalition. The drone was intercepted and shot down as it was conducting a reconnaissance mission over Hajjah province.
تمكنت دفاعاتنا الجوية بفضل الله من إسقاط طائرة تجسسية نوع (سكان إيغل Scan Eagle) أمريكية الصنع، بسلاح مناسب وذلك أثناء قيامها بأعمال عدائية صباح اليوم في أجواء مديرية حرض بمحافظة حجة.
— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) February 28, 2022
The Yemeni Armed Forces have in recent months shot down dozens of drones belonging to the Saudi-led coalition. The drones, which the coalition acquires from the US, China, and Turkey at a huge cost, have proven to be no match to surface-to-air missiles that are locally assembled.
Saudi Arabia and its regional allies invaded Yemen in early 2015 with the aim of overthrowing the Ansarallah resistance movement and restoring to power the administration of ousted president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
According to the UN, the war has killed at least 230,000 people and triggered what has been described as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.