Thousands mourn Yemeni children killed by Saudi coalition air strike

Thousands of mourners on Monday buried dozens of children killed in a Saudi-led coalition air strike on a bus in northern Yemen, one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the three-year-old war.

At least 40 children were killed in Thursday's raid which hit the bus as it drove through a market of Dahyan, a town in Saada, the armed Houthi group which controls the province said.

Wooden coffins, most with a picture of a child, were taken by cars and carried by pallbearers to a graveyard from a square where prayers were held earlier. "Death to America, death to Israel," the crowd chanted, echoing the Houthis' slogan.

The shrouded bodies were removed from the coffins and placed in a row of unmarked graves that had been dug on Friday.

"My son went to the market to run house errands and then the enemy air strike happened and he was hit by shrapnel and died," said Fares al Razhi, mourning his 14-year-old son.

"For my son, I will take revenge on Salman and Mohammed bin Zayed," he said, referring to leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Gulf Arab states are leading the alliance of Sunni Muslim countries that intervened in Yemen's war in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government that was expelled from the capital Sanaa by Houthis in 2014. Houthis are backed by Iran in this proxy war, however, have often denied all claims of such support.

The coalition said on Friday it would investigate the strike after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and called for an independent probe.

But on Saturday, the Saudi kingdom's news agency SPA said Saudi Arabia's mission to the world body delivered a message to Guterres reiterating that the raid was "legitimate" and targeted Houthi leaders "responsible for recruiting and training young children."

"War can’t be a clean operation unfortunately," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash told reporters in Dubai when asked about the Saada attack. "But I will say all parties need to accept their part in what they are doing today."

Talks planned
The coalition initially said after the attack that the strike had targeted missile launchers that were used by the Houthis to attack the southern Saudi province of Jizan.

The Houthis' health minister Taha Mutawakil said last week that the estimated number of casualties stood at 51 killed including 40 children, and at least 79 people wounded, of which 56 were children. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported the same toll on Friday, citing authorities in Saada.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV on Monday quoted a health official as saying another child had died from his wounds, raising the toll to 52.

The head of the Houthis' supreme revolutionary committee, Mohammed Ali al Houthi, attended the funeral and blamed the United States for "this ugly massacre of Yemeni children."

The United States and other Western powers provide arms and intelligence to the alliance, and human rights groups have criticised them over coalition air strikes that have killed hundreds of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets.

A US military spokeswoman said US forces were not involved in Thursday's air strike. The US State Department urged the Saudi-led coalition to "conduct a thorough and transparent investigation."

The coalition says it does not intentionally target civilians and has set up a committee to probe alleged mass casualty air strikes, which has mostly cleared it of any blame.

The Houthis have also been criticised by rights groups.

The UN special envoy to Yemen has been shuttling between the warring parties ahead of holding consultations in Geneva on September 6 to try to end the conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed the impoverished Arab country to the verge of starvation, according to the United Nations.