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In Yemen, three days after the attack on a market in Saada province, which killed 17 civilians, the exact conditions of the explosion are still unclear. According to local NGOs, the Riyadh-led coalition is responsible.
It is the third attack in a month targeting this locality in northern Yemen. The Saudi-led military coalition admitted on December 25 that it had conducted an air operation in the area where the market was located.
For Radhya al-Mutawakel, president of the Mwatana association for human rights, the inhabitants of this border area are once again caught in the crossfire.
The situation in Saada , this region of North Yemen, is very special. Because even before the current war, the area experienced another war, between the Houthis and the forces of former President Ali Abdallah Saleh.
The Saada district has long been completely ignored by the Yemeni government. The living conditions of the people were very harsh, and from 2011, the Houthi armed groups took control of Saada.
The situation was complicated on the ground, but also from the air, as the region was severely affected, more than any other governorate, by air strikes by the coalition led by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates.
A very difficult situation for the people
The civilian populations of Saada have gone through several wars for many years and the situation is terrible at all levels. This attack is not new; the only novelty is that it comes while negotiations are underway between Houthis and Saudis .
The December 26 attack on the al-Raqw market in the Yemeni province of Saada killed 17 civilians, including 12 Ethiopian migrants, and also injured 12 others, according to the United Nations.
On 22 and 27 December, two attacks had already hit this market in Saada, a stronghold of Houthi revels, killing civilians but also migrants on each occasion. According to the UN, 89 civilians have been injured or killed since November in attacks targeting the same market.
According to several humanitarian organizations, since 2015, the war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people. With 3.3 million people displaced and 24.1 million people still in need of assistance, it is currently the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, insists the UN.