Arab Coalition probe panel’s report on Yemen’s Saada incident lauded

Yemeni fighters loyal to the government backed by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in the country ride in the back of a pickup truck with mounted heavy machine gun in the Mesini Valley in the vast province of Hadramawt, in this February 21, 2018 photo. (AFP)

• Investigators are probing the Saada incident and the report will be made public once the investigation is over

JEDDAH: Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operation Support Center has appreciated the statement issued by the Joint Incidents Assessment Team in Yemen (JIAT) regarding what is reported by international organizations and circulated in the global media on Saada incident, which claimed the lives of a number of people including children.
The center commended the results of reports prepared by the JIAT.
The JIAT said on Sunday the coalition did not deliberately targeted any civilian and that the procedures followed in pursuing the military objective were consistent with the international humanitarian law.
Investigators are probing the Saada incident and the report will be made public once the investigation is over, according to a JIAT spokesman.
He said the coalition airstrikes are carried out based on reliable intelligence reports and target only the Iranian-backed Houthis and their weapons depots.
The spokesman also announced findings of five other incidents and clarified that all those air missions were based on reliable intelligence reports and no civilians were targeted in those airstrikes.
In all the five cases, Houthi leaders or cadre and their strategic military assets were destroyed to weaken their stranglehold on Yemen and to pave the way for the restoration of the internationally recognized government in Yemen, according to the JIAT spokesman.
He said the findings of the investigation team showed the Arab coalition followed the international law of military operations in Yemen.