Saudi Arabia-led coalition airstrikes on two residential compounds in the Yemeni port city of Mokha have violated laws-of-war, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has argued.
The airstrikes, which occurred on 24 July, killed at least 65 civilians, including ten children and left dozens of people injured.
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The residential compounds housed Mokha Steam Power Plant workers and their family members.
Senior emergencies researcher Ole Solvang said: “The Saudi-led coalition repeatedly bombed company housing with fatal results for several dozen civilians.
“With no evident military target, this attack appears to be a war crime.”
HRW also asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to create a commission of inquiry to investigate war crime allegations against the coalition, the Houthis, and other parties.
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By GlobalDataSolvang added: “Again and again, we see coalition airstrikes killing large numbers of civilians, but no signs of any investigation into possible violations.
“If coalition members won’t investigate, the UN should.”
According to the workers and residents, one or more aircraft dropped nine bombs in separate sorties. The bombs hit two apartment buildings directly, while other bombs exploded between the buildings.
The plant’s main residential compound reportedly housed at least 200 families.
Recently, Amnesty International has also argued that airstrikes carried out by Saudi Arabia-led forces demonstrated a failure to abide by the requirements of international humanitarian law.
The organisation said that the coalition dropped bombs in different parts of Yemen, killing a large number of civilians.
The Saudi-led coalition includes the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, and Sudan.
Image: Men dig through rubble in a residential compound housing employees of the Mokha Steam Power Plant. Photo: © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch.
