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A U.S.-led military coalition admitted Thursday that more than 1,000 civilians in Iraq and Syria had been killed by coalition airstrikes since the alliance was established four years ago to fight the Daesh terrorist group.
According to a coalition report released Thursday, the alliance has carried out some 30,000 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since Daesh overran vast swathes of both countries in mid-2014.
The report goes on to assert that at least 1,061 civilians in both countries were “unintentionally” killed as a direct result of the strikes.
Comprised of 60 countries, the coalition was drawn up in 2014 with the ostensible aim of helping the Iraqi government fight the notorious terrorist group.
The Saudi-led coalition said Tuesday it will respond to a UN report that suggested war crimes may have been committed in war-torn Yemen.The coalition “will take an appropriate stance on the report after a legal review of it,” the coalition said in a statement.UN experts earlier Tuesday said that individuals in the Yemeni government and coalition forces conducted attacks in Yemen that may amount to war crimes.Saudi Arabia says ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthis intercepted“The Group of Experts have reasonable grounds to believe that individuals in the Government of Yemen and the coalition may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes,” said the 41-page report issued by the UN experts, which was mandated by UN Human Rights Council.Yemen has been wracked by conflict since 2014 when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country.The conflict escalated one year later when Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a wide-ranging military campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen.Riyadh accuses the rebel group of serving as a proxy force for Shia Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe in the region.Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen may amount to war crimes: UNThe coalition airstrikes, according to the report, caused “most direct civilian casualties after hitting residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats, and medical facilities.”Some 6,660 civilians were killed and 10,563 injured in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015, the UN Human Rights Office said and warned that the real figures are likely to be “significantly higher."The report also highlighted the crimes of Houthi forces, including killing of civilians and child recruitment.
Saudi-led coalition to respond to UN Yemen report
Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's war have caused heavy civilian casualties at marketplaces, weddings and on fishing boats, some of which may amount to war crimes, United Nations human rights experts said on Tuesday.Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed alliance of Arab states trying to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ousted from the capital Sanaa by the Iran-aligned Houthis in 2015.Fighters of the Houthi movement have fired missiles into Saudi Arabia, blocked delivery of supplies to Taiz and shelled the strategic city from the highlands, the panel said. They have also committed torture, a war crime, it said.Video: Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen may amount to war crimes: UNSaudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missile from YemenCoalition forces have imposed severe restrictions on Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport, depriving Yemenis of vital supplies which may also constitute international crimes, the independent experts said in their first report to the Human Rights Council.The coalition's additional inspection procedures at Hodeidah port have had a "chilling effect on commercial shipping", although no U.N. or coalition searches had discovered weapons being smuggled into Yemen where 8.4 million people are on the brink of famine, it said."Coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties. In the past three years, such air strikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities," the panel said.Saudi-led coalition to respond to UN Yemen reportIts investigation of 11 incidents raised "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the coalition". Strikes that fail to spare people or structures protected by international humanitarian law would be unlawful violations."Individuals in the (Yemeni) government and the coalition, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes," the experts said, adding that they had compiled a confidential list of suspects.There was no immediate reaction from those governments, which received an advance copy of the report from the United Nations.Yemeni government, Houthi movement invited to Sept 6 peace talksAll sides have conscripted children between 11 and 17 years and used them to participate in the hostilities, also war crimes, the 41-page report said.It was released ahead of U.N. peace talks between the government and Houthis on Sept. 6 in Geneva.The panel, headed by Tunisian expert Kamel Jendoubi, neither specifically referred to the United States and Britain, which provide arms and intelligence to the Saudi-led alliance, nor did it point a finger at Iranian support to the Houthis.Yemen army establishes foothold in Houthi strongholdYemeni president leaves Egypt for Saudi capital
Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen may amount to war crimes: UN