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2 children among dead in Saudi strike on Yemen mosque

September 23, 2019 at 12:37 pm

Damaged buildings are seen after the Saudi-led military coalition carried out air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen on 16 May 2019 [Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency]

Seven civilians including two children were killed today following three Saudi air strikes which hit a mosque in the Yemeni province of Amran, north of the capital Sanaa.

According to the Yemeni Press Agency and based on reports by security officials, the air strikes targeted the nomadic family of Saleh Muqaffah who sought sanctuary in the mosque after they escaped from their tent in Al-Sawad area.

There have been 11 raids carried out in the Al-Sawad area in Amran since midnight on Sunday.

The Saudi-led coalition resumed their raids in spite of a peace initiative announced by Mahdi Al-Mashat, president of the Houthi aligned Supreme Council based in Sanaa on Friday, marking the anniversary of the seizure of the capital. The initiative declared a halt to all attacks in the Saudi territory, unless there were further strikes from Riyadh.

“We are waiting for a Saudi response to halt all attacks on our country…and we reserve all rights to defend ourselves in case Saudi Arabia rejects our peace initiative,” he said.

Also on Friday, Saudi Arabia resumed its air campaign against the besieged port city of Hudaydah. These air strikes are said to have breached the UN supervised Sweden agreement, which called for a ceasefire over the city.

It was the first Saudi military operation in Yemen following the attacks on Saudi’s Aramco oil facilities last weekend, which the Houthis claimed responsibility for. The US and Saudi are laying blame on Iran, however Tehran has denied the accusations.

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