Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen hit centre for blind people
A Yemeni worker looks at the damage at the Noor Centre for the Blind after it was reportedly destroyed by Saudi-led air strikes in the capital Sanaa on January 5, 2016. AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
Air strikes led by Saudi Arabia have hit a care centre for blind people, residents have said.
Three people are believed to have been wounded at the Noor Centre for the Blind on Tuesday, according to Saba news agency.
The capital's Chamber of Commerce and Industry was also hit in the strikes, although no casualties were reported.
The strikes were targeted at Houthi forces, an ally of Iran, in Yemen's capital Sanaa, the port city of Hodaida and the city of Taiz.
Yemeni blind men shout slogans during a demonstration gathering disabled people to protest after a center for the blind was reportedly destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes in the capital Sanaa on January 6, 2016. AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
A patient at the centre for blind people expressed his shock at being struck.
Read more
Yemeni blind men hold a banner during a demonstration gathering disabled people to protest after a center for the blind was reportedly destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes in the capital Sanaa on January 6, 2016. Nearly 6,000 people have been killed since March, according to UN figures. At least 2,795 of them are civilians. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAISMOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
Employees walk on the rubble of the Chamber of Trade and Industry headquarters after it was hit by a Saudi-led airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
AP
Read More
- UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia 'worth £5.6bn under David Cameron'
- UK could be prosecuted for war crimes over missiles sold to Saudi Arabia that were used to kill civilians in Yemen
- UK's secret security pact with Saudi Arabia revealed
- Saudi Arabia omitted from UK's death penalty strategy 'to safeguard defence contracts'
Speaking to the International Business Times, Abdullah Ahmed Banyan said: “People with disabilities are being struck in their residence. Around 1:30am, two missiles hit the live-in quarters of a home for the blind."
"Can you imagine they are striking the blind? What is this criminality? Why? Is it the blind that are fighting the war?”
On 2 January, Saudi Arabia announced that a cease fire, which began on 15 December following United-Nations backed peace talks, had ended. It came on the same day the kingdom executed a Shi’ite cleric convicted of “terrorism”, which has seen tension grow between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
TOPSHOT - Yemeni construction workers walk with their rollers for painting in the the capital, Sanaa, on January 5, 2016. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP / MOHAMMED HUWAISMOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
In March, the Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in Yemen in an effort to stem Iran's influence in the region.
Human Rights Watch has condemned the strikes, some of which they believe "amount to war crimes".
Belkis Wille, the group’s Yemen researcher, told The Independent that 36 strikes, launched since March, “violated the laws of war”.
A man uses his mobile to take pictures of the rubble of the Chamber of Trade and Industry headquarters after it was hit by a Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
AP
Read more
Yemenis look at destruction in the street following air strikes on the capital, Sanaa, on January 5, 2016. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAISMOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
Read More
“In none of these cases have we seen that the Saudi-led coalition has launched any form of investigation nor taken any measures to compensate the victims or their families.”
"We have seen the coalition bombing and hitting dozens of civilian objects including homes, hospitals and schools, killing hundreds of civilians.”
A general view shows the rubble of the building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was destroyed during air strikes on the capital, Sanaa, on January 5, 2016. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAISMOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
So far, the war has killed 2795 civilians and injured 5,324, according to the UN.
Of the fatalities, around 60 per cent are the result of air strikes. At least 62 civilians were reported killed by air strikes in December 2015.
Independent
An employee inspects a room inside the Chamber of Trade and Industry headquarters after it was hit by a Saudi-led airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
AP
Independent News Service
Most Read
- Trade union Unison faces backlash after questioning military intervention at NI hospitals
- Coronavirus Northern Ireland: Update on schools could come next week, says Education Minister
- Man thanks hospital staff for saving seriously-ill partner's life
- Coronavirus: Swann 'to propose lockdown extension' - Five things Executive could discuss today
- English 'will not care' if Northern Ireland leaves UK for united Ireland, says former Chancellor
Latest World
- Republican Senate leader wants Donald Trump’s impeachment trial delayed
- Google threatens to pull search engine in Australia in row over Government plans
- Democrats ask ethics panel to investigate Republican senators over Capitol riot
- Judge rules Amazon can keep Parler offline
- Trump's portrait of president with NI links replaced at White House
Latest from Belfast Telegraph
- Covid-19 won't end Blues' full-time dream: Fenlon
- Robinson dismisses 22-game season plan
- Top lawyer perplexed by Lewis's frontier denial
- Ulster stars play waiting game on busy weekend
- Oscar Wilde's deathbed conversion and the truth about his notorious court case with Edward Carson by the writer's grandson