DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths on Thursday called for a transparent investigation into the recent airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in the northwestern Yemeni province of Al Jawf that resulted in multiple civilian deaths.
On Wednesday, the Houthis said that the coalition's air forces had conducted an air raid on residential houses located in the district of Al Hazm in the center of the Al Jawf province, which borders Saudi Arabia. The airstrike killed at least 25 civilians and inured seven others, the Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah reported on Wednesday, citing own sources.
"We deplore yesterday's air strikes in #AlJawf which, according to initial reports, resulted in multiple civilian casualties including children. A thorough&transparent investigation is required," Griffiths said, as quoted by the envoy's office on Twitter.
The special envoy added that the office continued to negotiate a ceasefire with the parties to the conflict to safeguard civilian lives in the country.
For over five years, Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces, led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi rebels. Despite the support from the Saudi-led coalition that has been conducting air, land and sea operations against the Houthis since March 2015, the government troops have failed to regain control over Houthi-controlled areas in northern and western Yemen.
Separately, the government troops have also faced an insurgency of the secessionist transitional council in the south of Yemen.
