File photo: AFP
On Friday, António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) said that the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis are responsible for most of war crimes against children in Yemen. Guterres added the both sides to the UN’s Yemen war black list.
According to Guterres report, the military operations of the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis killed or injured 1100 Yemeni child in 2016. Guterres said that the Houthis are responsible for killing or injuring 414 children, while the Saudi-led coalition is responsible for killing or injuring 683 Yemeni children mainly with airstrikes.
Guterres added that the Saudi-led coalition was responsible for 73% attacks on hospitals and schools in Yemen in 2016.
Guterres revealed that the UN and Saudi Arabia are in a dialog to improve the security majors for children in Yemen. However, Guterres didn’t talk about any similar steps with the Houthis.
Only hours after the UN report, US official told Reuters news agency that the US lifted its economic sanctions against Sudan, the third biggest force in the Saudi-led coalition. Sudanese troops have been a spearhead of the Saudi-led coalition attacks in Yemen for two years now.
The US official said the US decision to left the sanctions was due to “progress on counter-terrorism and improvement on human rights” in Sudan. It’s not known yet if the US took into account the acts of Sudanese troops in Yemen when it made its decision to left the sanctions.
