At least ten children were killed in an airstrike on a school in Yemen’s stronghold of the Houthi group on Saturday, aid group Doctors Without Borders said.
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Saudi authorities say a Yemeni national accused of killing a Saudi policeman had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and may be linked to an attack a year ago on security forces that killed 15 people.
Facilities run by the worldwide aid organization, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, have been hit before amid ongoing fighting in Yemen and other countries in the region.
News of the bombing comes just a week after UN-backed peace talks collapsed between the United States and Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Shiite Houthi insurgents, who seized Sanaa, the nation’s capital, and other regions since 2014.
Saudi officials confirmed the attack, but insisted that the school was secretly an Iranian-backed training camp for child soldiers.
There was no immediate comment from the coalition, which has been battling the Houthi rebel movement since March 2015.
A team from coalition “has seen the UN Secretary General’s call for an investigation” into MSF’s claim and is initiating a probe, said the group known as the Joint Incidents Assessment Team.
He says six other Yemenis have been detained in connection with the attack.
“UNICEF calls on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to respect and abide by their obligations under global law”, including the obligation to only target combatants and limit harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure, the statement said. Reports said more than half of the victims were women.
Amnesty International called the hospital attack a “deplorable act” and potentially a war crime.
5 million and caused a humanitarian catastrophe in one of the world’s poorest countries.
The factory is near a military equipment maintenance centre targeted by the coalition.
A ceasefire was announced in April between the warring sides and led to a reduction in violence in Yemen.
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The U.N. children’s agency called on “all parties to the conflict in Yemen to respect and abide by their obligations under global law”, stressing, “This includes the obligation to only target combatants and limit harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure”.
