Human Rights Watch said on Monday that the Saudi-led coalition which has been launching an aggression against Yemen carried out unlawful airstrikes in residential areas in Sanaa, causing civilian deaths.

Human Rights Watch said on Monday that the Saudi-led coalition which has been launching an aggression against Yemen carried out unlawful airstrikes in residential areas in Sanaa, causing civilian deaths.

The New York-based organization also slammed the coalition members and the United States, saying they were “required under the laws of war to investigate such attacks, but they have not.”

“Human Rights Watch found no evidence of any military target in an airstrike on the Old City and on al-Asbahi neighborhood in September,” HRW said in an article on its website on Monday.

“Airstrikes that caused civilian casualties on homes on Marib Street and in the neighborhoods of Hadda, al-Hassaba, and Thabwa hit 200 meters or more from possible military objectives. These attacks failed to distinguish civilians from military objectives or caused disproportionate civilian loss.”

The organization quoted Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director as asking: “How many civilians will die in unlawful airstrikes in Yemen before the coalition and its US ally investigate what went wrong and who is responsible.

“Their disregard for the safety of civilians is appalling.”

One coalition attack struck a house in Sanaa’s Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on the night of September 13, killing 18 civilians and wounding many others, HRW said.

According to the United Nations, most of the 2,500 civilian deaths, since the coalition began its military campaign in late March, have been from coalition airstrikes.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said it was unaware of any investigations by Saudi Arabia or other members of the nine-nation coalition into these or other allegedly unlawful strikes, or of any compensation for victims.

“The US, by coordinating and directly assisting coalition military operations, is a party to the conflict and as such is obligated to investigate allegedly unlawful attacks in which it took part.”

The coalition has repeatedly used aerial bombs with wide-area effect in populated areas, creating the likelihood of civilian casualties even when a military target is hit, Human Rights Watch said.

The attacks Human Rights Watch documented used large air-dropped bombs, weighing from 250 kilograms to as much as 1,000 kilograms. These would have blast, thermal, and fragmentation effects in a radius of dozens or hundreds of meters of impact.