Tuesday 16 June 2015

16th June 2015, Saudi led coalition airstrike hits neighboourhood of Hawban, yemen, killing a mother and her four children.

On 16th June, the Saudi led coalition airstrikes hit the neighbourhood of Hawban, east of Taiz city, Yemen, killing a 48 year old mother and her four children (ages 10, 14, 23 and 25). This is Amnesty International's report of the incident:

AL-MUJALIYYA NEIGHBOURHOOD, TA’IZ, 16 JUNE

48-year old Jamila and four of her children were killed when an airstrike destroyed their home in al-Mujaliyya neighbourhood at 3.45am on 16 June. Jamila’s daughter Leila Hayel, who lives 600 metres away from her parents’ house, lost her mother and siblings Suha (10), Amal (14), Samah (23), and Hani (25). She told Amnesty International:


“The whole family had been staying in the Hawban neighbourhood [east side of Ta’iz city] for the last two months because of the continuous fighting [between armed groups] in al-Mujaliyya [south side of Ta’iz city]. In fact, the majority of the residents have left the neighbourhood. They had only returned home one week before the strike, in time for Ramadan. On that night, a bomb struck al-Arwa school, located 30 metres away from our house. Fearing for their lives, my family rushed to leave the house after the explosion. While my sisters and mother were putting on their abayas and my brother Hani was locking up the house, a bomb struck the house. The force of the explosion sent my sisters and mother flying five metres, killing them instantly. Hani’s body was not dug out until 12 hours later. My father Faisal (60) was the only survivor.”


On that night, three airstrikes targeted al-Mujaliyya neighbourhood for the first time, minutes apart. The first targeted al-Arwa School, which was reportedly being used as a detention centre by the Huthi/Saleh loyalists. The second struck the Hayel home and the third landed in the courtyard of the al-Ahdal family, where 13 relatives (10 women, three men) were sheltering in the basement of the house after hearing the first two strikes. The bomb at al-Ahdal house, only a couple of doors down from the Hayel family, failed to detonate, limiting what could have been even greater destruction and likely more civilian casualties.

'NOWHERE SAFE FOR CIVILIANS'AIRSTRIKES AND GROUND ATTACKS IN YEMEN Index: MDE 31/2291/2015 Amnesty International August 2015

Ref: 15061601

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