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Incident on 10 May 2015 [+] Print this page

Location: a residential house and the adjacent street in central Saada City, Sa'adah district, Sa'dah Governorate [+]

Country: Yemen [+]

Violation types: Unlawful Airstrike [+]

Location


This incident took place in a residential house and the adjacent street in central Saada City, Sa'adah district, Sa'dah Governorate, Yemen [+]

Description


According to Human Rights Watch: "Unlawful Airstrikes [...] Human Rights Watch investigated several coalition aerial attacks in Saada City that appeared to be in violation of the laws of war. On the basis of information from relatives, witnesses, medical staff, and local Houthi authorities Human Rights Watch compiled the names and ages of 59 people killed in aerial attacks in Saada City between April 6 and May 11, including 14 women and at least 35 children. [...] On the morning of May 10, two bombs struck a residential house and the adjacent street in central Saada City, killing at least five people, including the owner of the house and four neighbors from the Qabas family, the mother and three children. The attack also injured two children from the al-Sherif home. Ahmed al-Sherif, 38, a watch repairman and the owner of one of the houses that were hit, was still receiving treatment at nearby al-Jumhouri hospital when Human Rights Watch interviewed him five days after the attack. Al-Sherif said that he lost consciousness when the attack happened and that he woke up in the hospital the next day. A metal fragment had cut through his intestines, requiring surgery. The attack also wounded his 7-year-old son Mohammed in the left shoulder and his 12-year-old son Abed in the arm and leg, he said. All three had wounds or bandages consistent with al-Sherif’s description. Sherif Ahmed, 20, one of al-Sherif’s sons, told Human Rights Watch he was outside the house when the attack struck: Thankfully my father and two brothers were outside when the first strike hit our house. Luckily my mother and sisters were downstairs, near the back of the house. Five minutes later, a second strike hit the other side of the road. That is how my dad, little sister and brother were wounded. Human Rights Watch examined the site. Two-thirds of the façade of al-Sherif’s house had been destroyed, leaving the inner rooms exposed. Researchers did not find any munition remnants at the site to indicate the weapon used. A crater about one meter in diameter in the asphalt in front of the house was partially filled with bricks and other debris from the house. There was also significant blast damage to stores on the other side of the street. Ahmed Al-Sherif died from his injuries on June 3, according to a local Ansar Allah official. Human Rights Watch did not identify any obvious military targets in the vicinity. Sherif Ahmed said that none of his family members were in the Houthi forces and he was not aware of any members in the Qabas family." [+]

Perpetrator units

Name Other Names Classification
Operation Restoring Hope [+] Arab Coalition
Arab Coalition Forces
Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen
Gulf Arab coalition
Hope Restoration Operation
Joint Forces
Operation Renewal of Hope
Operation Storm of Resolve
Saudi-led Arab Coalition
Saudi-led Coalition
coalition forces
operations Renewal of Hope
Air Force [+]
Army [+]
Joint Operation [+]
Military [+]
Navy [+]

Sources

List of all sources used to evidence the data in this record Click the "+" symbol next to every data point in the record to see the sources used for that data point.

Publication Date Publisher Publication Title Access Date Archive Link
30 June 2015 Human Rights Watch Targeting Saada: Unlawful Coalition Airstrikes on Saada City in Yemen 09 October 2019