135 civilians killed in alleged coalition airstrike on Yemen wedding

  30 September 2015    Read: 688
135 civilians killed in alleged coalition airstrike on Yemen wedding
The bombing of a wedding party in Yemen by an apparent Saudi Arabia airstrike has killed 135 people. The Saudi-led coalition, which has air supremacy in the area, denied responsibility for the tragedy.
Two missiles tore through two tents in the Al-Wahijah village in southwestern Yemen, where a wedding celebration was underway. According to media reports, the ill-fated wedding reception was held by a local man affiliated with the Houthi rebels, who are being targeted by Saudi-led airstrikes.

The UN estimates that 135 people died in the attack. Many of the dead were women and children, witnesses said.

The bombed wedding celebration took place not far from the Red Sea port of Mokha, which has “witnessed aerial bombardment on many occasions,” Yemeni-based journalist, Muhammad Al-Attab, told RT.



UN chief Ban Ki-moon has condemned the airstrikes, once again stressing that “there is no military solution to the conflict.”

“This may be the single deadliest incident since the start of the conflict,” UN human rights agency spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters.

A senior official in the Yemeni government told AP that attack was conducted by a Saudi-led coalition which struck the wedding by “mistake.”

The coalition rejected the accusations saying that it did not carry out any air strikes in the region.

“There have been no air operations by the coalition in that area for three days. This is totally false news,” Coalition spokesman Brigadier-General Ahmed al-Asseri told Reuters.

“The coalition knows its responsibility and will always acknowledge a mistake if we make it.

Take into consideration the chaotic situation in Yemen, with several armed elements and forces active around the country. Also, people sometimes cannot distinguish between canon, mortar and Katyusha (multiple launch rocket systems),” he added.

More about:


News Line