SANA’A, 13 August 2016 – An airstrike Saturday morning killed at least seven children and injured 21 others in a religious school in the Sa’ada governorate in northern Yemen.
The children killed, aged between six and 14 years, were studying in a school in the Juma’a Bin Fadil village in Haydan. Bodies are still being pulled out of the rubble and the death toll is expected to increase.
The surviving children are being treated in a hospital in Sa’ada.
With the intensification in violence across the country in the past week, the number of children killed and injured by airstrikes, street fighting and landmines has grown sharply.
Just last week, speaking after the deaths of four children in another attack UNICEF’s representative on the ground in Yemen, Julien Harneis, in Yemen said the effect the escalation of violence is having on children is deplorable.
UNICEF calls on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to respect and abide by their obligations under international law. This includes the obligation to only target combatants and limit harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure.
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