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U.N. resident coordinator Jamie McGoldrick called the fighting
futile and absurd, an unusually direct criticism of the war in
which the coalition, backed by the United States, Britain and
others, is fighting the Iran-allied Houthi armed movement.
Citing initial reports from the U.N. human rights office, a
statement by McGoldrick said air strikes hit a crowded market in
Al Hayma sub-district of Attazziah in Taiz governorate on
Tuesday, killing 54 and injuring 32.
Eight of the dead and six of the injured were children,
according to the reports.
On the same day an air strike on a farm in Attohayta district of
Hodeidah governorate killed 14, and air strikes elsewhere killed
a further 41 civilians and injured 43 over the past 10 days.
"These incidents prove the complete disregard for human life
that all parties, including the Saudi-led Coalition, continue to
show in this absurd war that has only resulted in the
destruction of the country and the incommensurate suffering of
its people, who are being punished as part of a futile military
campaign by both sides," McGoldrick said.
Under international law, the warring sides must spare civilians
and civilian infrastructure, he added.
The United Nations has no up-to-date estimate of the death toll
in Yemen, having said in August 2016 that according to medical
centers at least 10,000 people had been killed.
The United Nations says Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian
crisis, with about 8 million people on the brink of famine, a
cholera epidemic that has infected 1 million people, and
economic collapse in what was already one of the Arab world's
poorest countries.
(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Kevin Liffey, William
Maclean)
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