More than 80 refugees died this week in an army air raid on a camp in north Yemen where Shi’ite rebels are challenging the authority of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a camp source and news reports said on Thursday.
A refugee at the improvised camp at Adi in Harf Sufyan, at the centre of fighting which erupted in early August, said about 87 people died in the raid on Wednesday afternoon.
The source, who did not want to reveal his name, said 87 bodies were buried on Thursday. ”The camp was taken by surprise by the air force bombing them,” he said.
The independent website News Yemen said 85 people died.
”An air raid hit them in the area when they were sleeping under trees and plastic awnings,” it said, citing witnesses. It said the air force then staged a second raid on the camp.
A government statement said there was no refugee camp in the area but did not confirm or deny the incident.
The official September 16 website reported military operations in Harf Sufyan, but did not mention the air strike.
”Armed force and security units managed to teach the rebels hard lessons and severe losses with daring operations,” it said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Yemeni government may have committed a ”horrific attack” with the air raid.
”The Yemeni government should be investigating what may have been a horrific attack on civilians,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director of HRW in a statement. ”Civilians should never be attacked.”
The government in Sanaa says the rebels want to restore a Shi’ite state that fell in the 1960s. The rebels accuse the Western and Saudi-backed Saleh of tyranny, corruption and escalating a conflict over central control that began in 2004.
United Nations aid agencies say more than 100 000 people have fled their homes during the surge in fighting. They launched an appeal in Geneva last month for $23,5-million to help Yemen. Thousands are staying in tented camps in mountainous territory.
Media have had difficulty accessing the conflict zone in Saada and Amran provinces and verifying conflicting reports from each side.
The rebels, referred to as Houthis after their leaders’ clan, posted images earlier this week of dead and injured Yemenis who they said were hit in an air raid in the town of al-Talh. There was no official response.
They have accused the government of using Saudi jets and weaponry. Sanaa denies this and accuses Iran of ties to the rebels, who belong to the Shi’ite Zaydi sect. — Reuters