SANAA, Yemen
An airstrike carried out early Wednesday by an international coalition led by Saudi Arabia mistakenly killed five civilians in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province, according to eyewitnesses.
“Five people from the same family were killed early today by an airstrike that hit their home by mistake in the Hawd al-Ashraf neighborhood of Taiz city [the provincial capital],” witnesses told Anadolu Agency.
The family’s home was completely leveled, according to witnesses.
Earlier on Wednesday, witnesses also reported that the coalition had carried out another three airstrikes in the Al-Arous region of Taiz, which remains under the control of the Shia Houthi militia.
Yemen descended into chaos last September, when Houthi militiamen overran capital Sanaa. In April, the Houthis also managed to capture Yemen’s southern Aden province, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi – along with most of his government – to flee to Saudi Arabia.
Recent weeks, however, have seen pro-Hadi forces – backed up by Saudi-led air power – retake most of the coastal province, allowing for the return of several Yemeni government officials from Riyadh.
President Hadi himself, however, has yet to return to the war-torn country.
Nearly 2,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed to date in the fighting between Houthi militiamen and pro-Hadi forces, the UN announced on Tuesday.
