Zeid’s office says an estimated 3,799 civilians have been killed since the air campaign by the US -backed coalition began.
Advertisement
In one of the attacks, two Saudi girls were killed and five of their family members wounded when a rocket hit their home in the border region of Najran, SPA said.
During talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah this week, Kerry said the conflict in Yemen had gone on too long and needed to end. Kerry “will raise our concerns about civilian casualties and damage to civilian targets inside Yemen”, the US official said, adding that he would press the Saudis to ensure air strikes were “discriminate and precise”.
Mr Kerry announced almost 189 million U.S. dollars (£140 million) in additional humanitarian aid for Yemen, bringing the total amount of USA assistance to more than 327 million dollars (£250 million) since October 2015.
After his meeting with the Saudi monarch, Kerry wrote on Twitter that they discussed the “need to reach a political solution [and] address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, ” as well as the war in Syria and the fight against the Islamic State.
The reference to handing weapons to a third party also appeared to be a departure from the government demands.
Kerry was to update regional allies on efforts to end the heavy bloodshed in Syria “because they do have influence” over opposition groups, the State Department official said.
Kerry told reporters during his visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss with Arab allies and United Nations officials means to end the conflict that he hoped a new goal of establishing a unity government would succeed where other peace efforts have failed. “We’re happy to see you in good form”, Kerry said, before reporters were ushered from the room.
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN’s human rights chief, said in a statement on Thursday that air strikes by the Arab coalition in Yemen were responsible for the majority of 3,799 civilian deaths.
The US has backed the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen with intelligence for targeting, airborne refuelling for jets, and legal consultation to ensure that the airstrikes conform to global law.
The fall of Aden prompted the Saudis and some of their allies to mount military operations against the Houthis, who they accuse of acting as Iranian proxies.
Previous UN-sponsored negotiations to end the war in Yemen fell apart earlier this month.
Jubeir denied this, saying the kingdom had “no interest, no claims in Yemen”.
Mr Kerry arrived in Jeddah on Wednesday night and had a three-hour dinner with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman that lasted until almost 1am, according to USA officials.
Advertisement
A handout picture released by the Saudi Press Agency shows US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) in Jeddah, on August 25, 2016.
