Yemen Crisis: Saudi Arabian-led coalition airstrikes have killed scores, says Amnesty

'These eight cases must be independently and impartially investigated as possible disproportionate or indiscriminate attacks.'

Yemeni fighters loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi walk on a damaged street in the Dar Saad suburb of the southern city of Aden on 2 July 2015. (SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP/Getty Images)

An investigation by Amnesty International has concluded that Saudi Arabian-led forces have killed scores in Yemen.

Amnesty researchers investigated eight airstrikes across the country, including multiple strikes in the capital, Sana’a, on 12 and 13 June and in Tai’z on 16 June.

In total, the eight incidents killed 54 civilians including a one-day-old infant, and injured 55.

One of the attacks, a triple strike, was found to have been launched by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition against Beit Me’yad, a residential suburb of the capital Sana’a, on 13 June. The attack killed 10 civilians and injured 28 who lived near the intended targets of the strikes.

The coalition spokesman Brigadier-General Ahmed al-'Assiri denied responsibility for the strike.

A fragment of the bomb recovered from the rubble of the houses was found to have come from a 2,000 lb (900 kg) bomb, the same type which has been widely used by the coalition in various parts of Yemen.

Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Advisor at Amnesty International, currently in Yemen, said: "International humanitarian law is clear that belligerents must take all possible steps to prevent or minimize civilian casualties.

"But the cases we have analysed point to a pattern of attacks destroying civilian homes and resulting in scores of civilian deaths and injuries.

"There is no indication that the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition has done anything to prevent and redress such violations.

"These eight cases investigated by Amnesty International must be independently and impartially investigated as possible disproportionate or indiscriminate attacks.

"The findings of any investigation must be made public, and those suspected of responsibility for serious violations of the laws of war must be brought to justice in fair trials.

"All victims of unlawful attacks and their families should receive full reparation."