Loyalists of the Shiite Houthi group and former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said they will organize rallies on Friday to condemn the “usage of cluster bombs in capital Sanaa”, following reports by pro-Houthi media outlets that U.S.-made BLU-63 cluster bombs were used on several occasions during Wednesday’s bombings.
Advertisement
Yemen’s U.N. Ambassador Khaled Alyemany said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the government has decided “to maintain the status quo” of the representative, George Abu al-Zulof.
Thousands of civilians have been killed since the conflict escalated in Yemen in March.
The Secretary-General is particularly concerned about reports of intense airstrikes in residential areas and on civilian buildings in Sana’a, including the Chamber of Commerce, a wedding hall and a center for the blind.
The coalition ended the ceasefire the same day Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric Nimr Al Nimr, sparking anger among Shiites in the region and leading to Riyadh cutting ties with Tehran after Iranian protesters stormed its embassy.
At least five people have lost their lives in fresh Saudi airstrikes on Yemen, including one killed by a cluster bomb in the capital, Sana’a. However, the official said, Washington has “encouraged coalition forces to investigate all credible accounts of civilian casualties as a result of coalition strikes” – and to publicly release those findings.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies in the Gulf, backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government, have been battling Shi’ite rebels in the country known as Houthis.
The council expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in Yemen “which continues to worsen” and demanded that vital supplies such as fuel and medicine be allowed to reach the impoverished country.
Zeid fired back, saying he was “perplexed by the accusation that we have ignored the deplorable situation in Taiz”.
Advertisement
In Geneva, the United Nations human rights office said the move was “very regrettable”. “It is a mistake to view this as some sort of endorsement of an opposition movement’s position at the expense of the government”.
