Yemen: JIAT report denies involvement of Saudi-led coalition in war crimes

The Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) in Yemen has said that intel allegations against some military operations that were conducted by coalition troops were untrue. While Saudi Arabia led coalition forces have been accused of conducting major war crimes in Yemen, JIAT said that its investigation concluded otherwise. Addressing media reporters, team spokesperson Mansour Al-Mansour asserted that the coalition forces had no role to play in the recent attack at Saada and in the Lahj governorate, as per the Saudi Press Agency. 

Yemen has been engulfed in chaos since a civil war began in late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and even forced the globally-recognised government headed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. Later in 2015, the Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemen conflict to back Hadi’s government. Since then, the coalition forces have been accused of committing major human rights abuses including arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and illicit transfer of detainees to Saudi Arabia, according to Human Rights Watch. 

During the briefing, Al-Mansour refuted a number of claims made by global bodies and international organisations. He said that coalition forces did not fire projectiles on buildings on Al-Thawrah General Hospital in March. Citing the JIAT probe, the official said that no operations were conducted by the forces in the vicinity of the targetted hospital at that time. He admitted that the Saudi forces struck a health centre in Sanaa Governorate in 2015 but justified it saying that it houses Houthi rebels and their ammunition.

More than 113,000 people killed 

According to AP, the conflict has been disastrous for Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, killing more than 113,000 people, creating a humanitarian disaster, and wrecking infrastructure from roads and hospitals to water and electricity networks. Earlier, Saudi Arabia said that it will continue to treat Houthis as a terrorist organisation despite the US' decision to lift the designation on the group. On 12 February, the Joe Biden administration rescinded terrorist group designation from the Yemeni group, fearing it would block global aid to the country. However, Saudi Arabia, which has been engaged in a battle against them since 2014, stated that it would continue to go forward with the designation. 

Image: AP