Yemen: 11 More Killed in Saudi-Led Airstrikes

A fresh round of Saudi-led airstrikes, this time in Yemen's northwestern province of Sa'ada, has claimed the lives of 11 civilians. The warplanes carried out strikes in residential areas in Ghamr District and killed eight people, including two women and a child, according to Yemen's al-Masirah TV.

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Yemen: Saudi Airstrikes Kill Dozens

Airstrikes killed an additional three civilians in the Razih District.

The latest death toll, more than 12,000 Yemenis, according to some estimates, comes amid an escalation in attacks led by Saudi Arabia and financed, first and foremost, by the United States and the United Kingdom. Just 24-hours after Saudi warplanes bombed several regions in the impoverished country, leaving at least 39 people dead and injuring 90, according to Reuters.

One of the airstrikes reportedly targeted Yemen's military police headquarters in Sana'a's Shu'ab district. Some of the casualties included prisoners detained at the facility, who were awaiting trial.

Since the bombing campaign against Yemen began in 2015, the United Kingdom has licensed roughly US$4.2 billion dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to PressTV.

In early June, the U.S. Department of Defense also confirmed a US$750 million military sale to Saudi Arabia. It included the U.S.-made missiles, bombs, armoured personnel carriers, warships, munitions and a “blanket order training program” for Saudi security forces receiving the military equipment both inside and outside the kingdom, Reuters reported.

The bellicose mission's objective, to suppress the Houthi Ansarullah movement and, in doing so, reinstate former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, an ally to Riyadh.

Amid the bombing and devastation, which has forced more than a million to flee their homes, Yemen also faces a severe cholera outbreak that has claimed the lives of at least 2,119 people, according to Alexandre Faite, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Another eight million are on the verge of starvation.

Wolfgang Jamann, head of the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief non-governmental humanitarian agency, described the ongoing crisis in Yemen as being an absolute “shame on humanity.” The United Nations referred to it as “the world's worst humanitarian crisis.”