Human Rights Watch has accused the Saudi-led coalition of deploying cluster bombs containing outlawed munitions in Houthi rebel-held province of Saada. The attack in questions targetted two schools, HRW has said.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Waguih
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Rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Saudi-led coalition on Friday of using Brazilian-made cluster bombs containing outlawed munitions in its campaign against Houthi rebel forces.
The attack in question reportedly occurred on December 6 in the rebel-held province of Saada. The bombs struck near two schools, killing two civilians and wounding six including a child.
"Brazil should be on notice that its rockets are being used in unlawful attacks in the Yemeni war," HRW arms director Steve Goose said. "Cluster munitions are prohibited weapons that should never be used under any circumstances due to the harm inflicted on civilians."
The incident occurred a day after Saudi Arabia, the US and Brazil abstained from a UN General Assembly vote to ban the use of cluster bomb. With more than 100 countries having already pledged not to deploy such weapons, the vote in favor of an international ban was overwhelmingly endorsed.
"Brazil should make an immediate commitment to ending production and export of cluster munitions," Goose said.
Cluster bombs: Also a British problem
Cluster bombs contain dozens of smaller bomblets that can be dispersed over wide areas and continue to kill and wound people long after they have been dropped.
Earlier this week, the Saudi-coalition said that it would stop using British-made cluster bombs after Amnesty International and other rights groups reported concerns about the spike in civilian casualties.
HRW said it has documented the use of seven different types of cluster munitions since the outbreak of the Yemen war in March 2015. The bombs were manufactured in the US, UK and Brazil.
Yemen: Houthi rebel leader accuses Britain of war crimes
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A humanitarian disaster
Saudi Arabia and its allied coalition made up namely of Gulf States have supported of Yemen's government with military intervention since Houthi rebels overran much the country's northern and central regions in March 2015.
The Saudi-led alliance, which enjoys additional logistical and weapons support from the likes of the US and France, has come under repeated criticism for its excessive use of force and neglect for the well-being of civilians. The UN estimates that some 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded since war broke out.
Last week, UNICEF reported that almost half a million Yemeni children were suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) - which means they were extremely underweight for their height, also known as "stunting."
A further 1.7 million more children were suffering from Moderate Acute Malnutrition, according to UNICEF.
Yemen: Girl recovers from malnutrition
In war-torn Yemen, 18-year-old Saida suffered from malnutrition for years. These photos document her slow recovery.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Alarming evidence of misery in Yemen
This image of 18-year-old Saida Ahmad Baghili, sitting on her bed at Al-Thawra in the Red Sea Port city of Hodeida shows her malnourished, emaciated body. It has come to stand for the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
Image: Reuters/A. Zeyad
Saida smiles - after weeks of treatment
Saida was transferred to a hospital in the capital, Sanaa. After weeks of hospital care, she can at least smile, though she can still barely speak and continues to find eating difficult at times. Her father is still worried: "She doesn't eat anything except liquid medical food. She used to drink juice and milk with bananas but now she can't. We don't know when she'll recover."
Image: Reuters/A. Zeyad
A lifelong condition
Doctors believe her condition has damaged her throat. When her family first brought Saida to a hospital, she could barely keep her eyes open or stand. "We admitted Saida to find out the cause of her inability to eat," her doctor said. "Her health issue remains chronic and her bones remain fragile due to stunted growth. In all likelihood, they will never return to normal."
Image: Reuters/A. Zeyad
Finally gaining weight
Her father, Ahmed, who is staying nearby to be with his daughter, said his daughter's weight has reached 16 kilograms (35 pounds), five kilos more than when she was first admitted to hospital. He said Saida's situation was alarming before the war, which began in March 2015. Yemen's crisis including widespread hunger was brought on by decades of poverty and internal strife.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Food insecurity
About half of Yemen's 28 million people are "food insecure," according to the United Nations, and 7 million of them do not now where they will get their next meal. The US-based Famine Early Warning Systems Network, run by the US Agency for International Development, estimated that a quarter of all Yemenis are probably in a food security "emergency" - one stage before "catastrophe" or famine.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Saida out of the hospital
The war has pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine and displaced over three million people. Areas worst affected by the conflict are parts of Taiz province and southern coastal areas of the Hodeida province, where Saida is from.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
One reason for undersupply
Restrictions imposed on the entry of ships after the start of the war in Yemen had raised insurance premiums and cut the number of vessels entering the port by more than half. About a million tons of food supplies entered through Hodeida in 2015, a third as much as in 2014.
Image: Reuters/F. Al Nassar
Yemeni women call attention to disaster
Yemeni women are holding banners depicting suffering, malnourished children. They protest against a UN roadmap for the Yemen conflict, which is calling for naming a new vice president after the withdrawal of the Houthi rebels from Sanaa. Since the beginning of the war, at least 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen.
