UNICEF STATEMENT ON THE KILLING OF CHILDREN IN SA’ADA, NORTHERN YEMEN

SANA’A, 13 August 2016 –An airstrike this morning has killed at least seven children and injured 21 others in a school in the Sa’ada governorate in northern ‪#‎Yemen.

The children killed, aged between six and 14 years, were studying in a religious 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.

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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