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5 Years on Saudi Aggression on Yemen: 1/3 of Airstrikes Hitting Civilian Targets

5 Years on Saudi Aggression on Yemen: 1/3 of Airstrikes Hitting Civilian Targets
folder_openYemen access_time4 years ago
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By Staff, Agencies 

New data revealed that nearly a third of the Saudi aggression’s air raids on Yemen have hit civilian targets including hospitals, schools and food stores.

This comes as Yemen marks the fifth anniversary of the Saudi aggression on Yemen. According to the Yemen Data Project, more than 18,400 civilians have been martyred or injured by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Over 8,600, a quarter of them women and children, were martyred across tens of thousands of raids, marking 70 per cent of the total civilian death toll documented by rights groups.

The same report said over the last five years coalition aircraft have bombed medical facilities including hospitals and clinics 83 times, killing 95 civilians and injuring a further 116. 

Over 60 food stores have also been hit, alongside 134 water and electricity facilities.

“The data clearly shows that over the five years [the coalition] has been consistently hitting civilian targets. That’s indisputable,” said the Yemen Data Project’s Iona Craig, adding that on average the alliance causes 10 civilian casualties a day. 

She further added: “It’s not just hospitals and medical facilities you have to take into account. It’s the bombing of water and electricity infrastructure, the impact on food supply lines with food storage facilities and crucial road bridges being hit too.”
Craig said that while the data shows there had been a steady decline in the rate of bombings, one of the deadliest ever bombings for civilians took place on 31 August 2019.

“Mass civilian casualty events are still happening even when there are fewer airstrikes,” she added.

The data comes as the country marks the fifth anniversary of the devastating war which according to the United Nations has sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers.

Five years on an estimated 80 per cent of the population - or 24 million people - require some form of humanitarian assistance to survive.

Two-thirds of the country's population are one step from famine.

So far, Yemen has yet to record a novel coronavirus case but there are fears that when the deadly disease arrives it will quickly spread through the country, as the fighting has decimated the health care system.

Only half of all hospitals and medical centers are functioning, according to the United Nations.

Even those that are open are facing severe shortages of medicines, equipment and staff.

According to Oxfam, 17 million people – more than half the population – have no access to clean water.

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