New international evidence has emerged condemning the Saudi regime’s deliberate war crimes against civilians in Yemen as part of the country’s more than four-year criminal war.
Researchers at the Bellingkat Investigative Journalism website revealed that the Saudi regime and its allies may have carried out double airstrikes in Yemen.
This tactic is based on rockets and then launches when aid workers rush to rescue the injured, which significantly increases the number of civilian deaths and puts the rescuers at risk, according to the British newspaper, The Independent.
Researchers found evidence that civilian targets in Yemen had been subjected to double airstrikes and examined open-source photos and videos of attacks by the Saudi-led coalition.
The report came at a time when the British government is preparing to appeal the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which forced it to freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia, while reconsidering the possibility of using them to violate international humanitarian law.
The researchers, who prepared the report, said the strikes, which are likely to violate humanitarian law, have not stopped, suggesting a clear risk that weapons sold by the UK could be used for abuses.
After examining satellite images of the effects of the airstrikes, the researchers found at least six cases in which civilian areas were subjected to double strikes, including a funeral hall, two markets, a restaurant, a mosque and a residential area.
Attacks on these sites appear to have caused more civilian deaths and injuries than potential military advantages. Such terrible civilian harm seems to be quite predictable, suggesting that coalition members deliberately led indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.
The report recalls an incident on July 6, 2015, in which 40 people were killed by two airstrikes targeting a market in the southern province of Lahj. After examining photos and videos, two large craters were found at the site of the incident. The report concluded that the evidence points to a double strike.
The British newspaper also points to an attack on a funeral hall in Sanaa in October 2016, which killed more than 150 civilians.
“When the coalition hits the market twice, it shows a lack of will to minimize civilian casualties or direct damage,” says Rowan Schaef, who heads the Yemeni team at Billingskat, The Independent. “People will come after the first strike, and obviously you will first hit respondents and civilians.”