Airstrike kills at least 40 at Yemen camp for displaced citizens
An airstrike killed at least 40 people at a camp for displaced people in north Yemen Monday, humanitarian workers said, in an attack that apparently targeted nearby Houthi fighters, The Daily Star reported citing news agencies.
Yemen’s state news agency Saba, which is under the control of the Houthis battling President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi, said the camp at Haradh was hit by Saudi planes. It said the dead included women and children and showed the bodies of five children laid out on a blood-streaked floor.
A Saudi military spokesman said the kingdom was seeking clarification on the incident.
“It could have been that the fighter jets replied to fire and we cannot confirm that it was a refugee camp,” Brig. Gen. Ahmad Asseri said.
“We will ask the Yemeni official agencies to confirm that,” Asseri told reporters.
Hadi’s Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin earlier blamed Houthi artillery for the explosion.
The International Organization for Migration, which initially reported 45 deaths, said 40 people were killed and 200 wounded – dozens of them severely hurt.