By SHUAIB ALMOSAWA and KAREEM FAHIM
September 19, 2015
SANA, Yemen — A Saudi-led military coalition bombarded government buildings and
residential neighborhoods in Sana, the Yemeni capital, overnight on Saturday, killing more
than two dozen people, officials and witnesses said, and destroying homes in Sana’s Old
City, a Unesco World Heritage site.
The Saudi coalition, which includes nine other Arab nations and is supported by the
United States, began fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels in March, two months after the
Houthis drove the government from power and took control of Sana. Coalition warplanes
have sharply intensified their bombing of Sana in recent weeks, leading analysts to
speculate that the airstrikes are intended to ease the way for a coalition ground
incursion of the capital.
The airstrikes hit the headquarters of the Interior Ministry and a military honor guard,
killing at least 17 security and military personnel, according to government officials and
witnesses. But several of the targets appeared to have no military value, witnesses said.
One set of airstrikes crushed a group of houses, killing at least 10 members of one family
and destroying at least two other houses, all in the Old City, which has been inhabited
for more than 2,500 years.
A man carried a body from the rubble of a house destroyed by an airstrike in Sana on
Saturday.
Mohamed Al-Sayaghi / Reuters
Other bombs struck an underpass, damaging a passing truck, as well as a four-story
residential building.
The aerial campaign has helped coalition forces advance in parts of Yemen, but has been
marked by a persistent imprecision that has led to the deaths of more than a thousand
civilians, according to human rights groups. The warplanes have bombed homes,
markets, refugee camps and hospitals, but the coalition has consistently refused to
acknowledge any culpability for the deaths.
Errant airstrikes have become so frequent that critics of the coalition say they are part of
a deliberate policy intended to terrorize the population and turn public opinion against
the Houthis.
On Friday, Unicef said that an airstrike in Dhamar, south of the capital, had destroyed a
warehouse the agency used for water supplies, imperiling more than 11,000 people. Last
week, the United Nations human rights chief called for an independent inquiry into
violations by the coalition, as well as by the Houthi rebels.
Interactive Feature | In Their Own Words Children are terrified by noises. Finding food is
a challenge. There’s rarely power. Many people in Yemen and beyond dream of an end to
the fighting.
The bombing was the second major attack on the Old City since the start of the war in
March. Around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, bombs destroyed the Ayni home, killing the family
and damaging wells and several other homes in the area, according to Taha al-Maghribi,
a neighbor. Mr. Maghribi said he had no idea why the family had been targeted: The
father, Hifthallah al-Ayni, had no connection to either of the warring parties, he said, and
the house was far from any military or security installation.
Near the site of another attack that wounded two people in a four-story building, Hisham
Abu Oraig, a neighbor, said a nearby government building could have been the target.
“But I don’t think so,” he added. “The bombs are precise. They just want to scare people
off.”
Shuaib Almosawa reported from Sana, and Kareem Fahim from Cairo. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/world/middleeast/arab-coalition-bombs-yemens-capital-killing-dozens.html?_r=0&referrer=
September 19, 2015
SANA, Yemen — A Saudi-led military coalition bombarded government buildings and
residential neighborhoods in Sana, the Yemeni capital, overnight on Saturday, killing more
than two dozen people, officials and witnesses said, and destroying homes in Sana’s Old
City, a Unesco World Heritage site.
The Saudi coalition, which includes nine other Arab nations and is supported by the
United States, began fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels in March, two months after the
Houthis drove the government from power and took control of Sana. Coalition warplanes
have sharply intensified their bombing of Sana in recent weeks, leading analysts to
speculate that the airstrikes are intended to ease the way for a coalition ground
incursion of the capital.
The airstrikes hit the headquarters of the Interior Ministry and a military honor guard,
killing at least 17 security and military personnel, according to government officials and
witnesses. But several of the targets appeared to have no military value, witnesses said.
One set of airstrikes crushed a group of houses, killing at least 10 members of one family
and destroying at least two other houses, all in the Old City, which has been inhabited
for more than 2,500 years.
A man carried a body from the rubble of a house destroyed by an airstrike in Sana on
Saturday.
Mohamed Al-Sayaghi / Reuters
Other bombs struck an underpass, damaging a passing truck, as well as a four-story
residential building.
The aerial campaign has helped coalition forces advance in parts of Yemen, but has been
marked by a persistent imprecision that has led to the deaths of more than a thousand
civilians, according to human rights groups. The warplanes have bombed homes,
markets, refugee camps and hospitals, but the coalition has consistently refused to
acknowledge any culpability for the deaths.
Errant airstrikes have become so frequent that critics of the coalition say they are part of
a deliberate policy intended to terrorize the population and turn public opinion against
the Houthis.
On Friday, Unicef said that an airstrike in Dhamar, south of the capital, had destroyed a
warehouse the agency used for water supplies, imperiling more than 11,000 people. Last
week, the United Nations human rights chief called for an independent inquiry into
violations by the coalition, as well as by the Houthi rebels.
Interactive Feature | In Their Own Words Children are terrified by noises. Finding food is
a challenge. There’s rarely power. Many people in Yemen and beyond dream of an end to
the fighting.
The bombing was the second major attack on the Old City since the start of the war in
March. Around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, bombs destroyed the Ayni home, killing the family
and damaging wells and several other homes in the area, according to Taha al-Maghribi,
a neighbor. Mr. Maghribi said he had no idea why the family had been targeted: The
father, Hifthallah al-Ayni, had no connection to either of the warring parties, he said, and
the house was far from any military or security installation.
Near the site of another attack that wounded two people in a four-story building, Hisham
Abu Oraig, a neighbor, said a nearby government building could have been the target.
“But I don’t think so,” he added. “The bombs are precise. They just want to scare people
off.”
Shuaib Almosawa reported from Sana, and Kareem Fahim from Cairo. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/world/middleeast/arab-coalition-bombs-yemens-capital-killing-dozens.html?_r=0&referrer=
