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Women and children killed in Saudi strike on funeral in Yemen

February 16, 2017 at 5:56 pm

Damaged buildings are seen after clashes between members of People’s Resistance Forces and Houthis in Yemen [Abdulnasser Alseddik/Anadolu]

Nine women and a child were killed in another Saudi-led airstrike on a funeral near Yemen’s capital city last night, adding pressure on the Saudi-led coalition to end its attacks on the country.

A group of women were at a funeral in Arhab, according to Abdel-Rahman Al-Ahnomi, a spokesman for the Houthi rebel group. Arhab is situated 25 miles away from Yemen’s capital city Sana’a. The initial death toll was reported to be five people, but then increased to nine later on in the evening as civilians died at the scene. There were no military targets at the time the Saudi-led coalition carried out the brutal attack.

Al-Ahnomi added that a second strike hit emergency workers at the scene injuring dozens more women. This is not the first time the Saudi-led coalition has attacked a funeral. In October, the coalition hit a funeral in a “double tap” attack in the capital city of Sana’a. The attack killed around 140 people and injured hundreds other.

The Saudi-led coalition announced this afternoon that it will investigate the funeral attack and the targeting of civilians.