Centers for the blind can now be added to the list of civilian areas bombed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen — along with wedding halls, hospitals, residential neighborhoods and humanitarian aid warehouses.
Fighting broke out in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, in March. A coalition of Middle Eastern nations and militants loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, led by Saudi Arabia and armed by the U.S., is combating Houthi rebels and militants loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Human rights organizations have accused the coalition of war crimes for targeting civilian areas.
In March, the Western-supported coalition attacked a Yemeni refugee camp, killing roughly 40 people and injuring 200 more.
The coalition then bombed an Oxfam warehouse full of life-saving humanitarian aid in April.
In September, Saudi Arabia bombed a wedding in Yemen, killing 131 civilians, including 80 women.
The next month, the coalition attacked another Yemeni wedding, killing at least 47 civilians and injuring 35 more.
The coalition subsequently bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Yemen in October, just weeks after the U.S. destroyed a hospital in Kunduz, Yemen.
In December, the coalition bombed a second Doctors Without Borders medical facility in Yemen.
Around 2,800 civilians have been killed in Yemen since the start of the war in March, according to the U.N. Another 5,300 have been wounded. At least 81 civilians were killed and 109 injured in Yemen in the month of December alone.
The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for approximately two-thirds of civilian deaths, the U.N. says. Coalition airstrikes killed at least 62 civilians in December, whereas Houthi rebels reportedly killed 11.
The U.N. has condemned the coalition for using widely banned cluster munitions in Yemen. These internationally banned weapons were provided to Saudi Arabia by the U.S. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, blasted the coalition for using the indiscriminate weapons, saying Saudi Arabia is “repeatedly using indiscriminate forms of warfare.”
A quiet, and misleading media
Despite statements by rights groups, much of the U.S. media has been actively ignoring the ongoing war. And, even when outlets do report on it, coverage is often overtly biased.
Reuters published a piece about the bombing of the center for the blind, euphemistically titled “Yemen war intensifies amid mounting regional tension.”