Human Rights watch said that the Saudi-US coalition against Yemen used banned plane-dropped cluster munitions in Saada.

Human Rights watch said that the Saudi-US coalition against Yemen used banned plane-dropped cluster munitions in Saada.

In a new report released late on Monday, the New York-based organization recorded violations commited by the coalition against civilians in Yemen.

“After over six weeks of airstrikes, the city (Saada) is littered with craters, debris, and destroyed buildings,” HRW said about its visit to Saada.

“We documented several strikes on residential buildings, and markets without an apparent military objective that have killed and wounded civilians. On May 6, for example, a bomb struck a residential home in Saada, killing 27 members of one family, including 14 children. Bombing has destroyed at least four markets in Saada, making it harder for people to buy food,” the report said.

“Further attacks on electricity and water installations as well as food storage centers may have had a military justification, but the short and long-term harm to civilians may have far exceeded any military gain.”

“According to the United Nation Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, by May 12 the fighting had killed 828 civilians in Yemen, many by airstrikes. Human Rights Watch has documented several apparently indiscriminate airstrikes resulting in civilian casualties, including one on a camp for displaced people 6 kilometers from the Saudi border that killed at least 29 civilians, and another that repeatedly struck a dairy factory that killed at least 31 in the western port city of Hodaida.”

“We have also documented that coalition forces have used banned plane-dropped cluster munitions in the Saada governorate,” HRW said in the report.