Death toll from Yemen market strikes rises to 119

UN warns of a 'human catastrophe unfolding' as number of casualties in conflict rises above 6,000

By AFP 17 March 2016, 5:25 pm
Yemenis gather at the scene of two suicide blasts which provoked the explosion of a motorbike in Dar Sad, north of the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, on March 16, 2016. (SALEH AL-OBEIDI / AFP)

The number of people killed in airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition on a market in northern Yemen’s rebel-held Hajja province on Tuesday has risen to 119, a UN agency said.

The strikes saw 119 killed, including up to 22 children, and 47 injured, the UNICEF children’s agency said in a statement.

It is one of the highest death tolls since the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes in support of the internationally recognized government against Houthi rebels and their allies in March last year.

Medics and tribal sources previously reported 41 people killed in the strike.

Deputy UNICEF representative in Yemen Meritxell Relano speaks during a press conference in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on March 17, 2016. (AFP / MOHAMMED HUWAIS)

“We strongly deplore the deadliest attack in Al-Khamees market in Mastaba district of Hajja governorate,” the UNICEF statement said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday demanded an investigation into the incident, calling it “one of the deadliest — reportedly killing and wounding scores of civilians, including women and children -– since the start of the conflict.”

The World Health Organisation says more than 6,200 people have been killed in the conflict since March 2015 and the United Nations has warned of a “human catastrophe unfolding in Yemen.”

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