The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has acknowledged civilian casualties in U.S. strikes on Yemen, despite the Pentagon’s claim that the attacks only targeted military sites.
UNICEF issued a statement after Alexus Grynkewich, the director of operations for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Monday that there was “no credible indication of civilian casualties” in the ongoing attacks on Yemen.
The statement confirmed the death of at least two boys and the injury of two others in Sa’ada while stressing the protection of children and civilians at all times.
Since Saturday evening, American and British warplanes have conducted dozens of strikes against Yemen, targeting multiple locations in provinces of Sana’a, Sa’ada, Al-Bayda, Hajjah, Dhamar, Ma’rib, and Al-Jawf.
The Yemeni armed forces announced that the U.S.-led attacks that continued on Monday left at least 53 people dead and 101 wounded, most of them civilians, including women and children.
Pentagon renews threats
The U.S. claims the action was in response to operations against American and Western ships in the Red Sea, but Yemenis insist that any attacks on the ships were in retaliation for the U.S. military adventurism.
Earlier, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, during a briefing, renewed threats against Yemen, saying the U.S. will use “overwhelming lethal force” on Houthis (Ansarullah) until it achieves its goal.
He further claimed that that airstrikes over the weekend will not turn into “an endless offensive” and are not about regime change in the Middle East but is about “prioritizing American interests.”
President Donald Trump had personally issued the order for the Yemen offensive as he confirmed in a social media post soon after the U.S. military began pounding the Arab country, saying “the deadly force will go on until goal is achieved.”
“Today, I have ordered the United States military to begin action against Yemen’s Ansarullah,” Trump wrote, claiming, “It has been more than a year since a U.S.-flagged commercial ship safely passed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden. The last American warship to pass through the Red Sea was attacked more than a dozen times by the Houthis four months ago.”
Trump’s anti-Iran rhetoric
The U.S. president missed no chance to implicate Iran in Yemen’s retaliatory attacks on ships belonging to the U.S. and its key allies, including Israel. "Let no one be fooled! Hundreds of attacks carried out by the Houthis were all originated from Iran and designed by Iran,” he claimed.
Continuing his accusations, Trump said on Monday that Iran dictates every move to Yemen’s Ansarullah, provides them with weapons, money and highly advanced military equipment, and even provides them with what he called “intelligence.”
Iran has, time and again, rejected the U.S. accusation with regard to either arming Yemen or playing role in the country’s internal affairs.
“We have always declared – and we declare again today – that the Yemenis are an independent and free nation in their own land, with an independent national policy,” Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Chief Commander Major General Hossein Salami reacted to Trump’s remarks on Saturday.
Salami said that Iran always openly claims full responsibility for any action it takes and “publicly announce responsibility for any military operation or support it provides.”
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