Saudi Arabia Protests UN Report on Killing of Yemeni Children

Saudi Arabia protested against a United Nations report accusing the Riyadh-led coalition fighting Yemeni rebels of killing and injuring Yemeni children. The Associated Press reported on Friday (October 6) that this protest was made by Abdullah al-Mualimi, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United Nations, regarding the country's placement on the blacklist. The United Nations accused the Saudi-led coalition, which is combating Yemeni rebels, of killing and injuring 700 children in 2016. However, Abdullah al-Mualimi described this report as containing 'inaccurate and misleading' information. Nevertheless, in a press conference, he described the injury of even one person as 'too much' and added that the coalition is striving to minimize the number of casualties. The Saudi ambassador to the UN added that the coalition supporting the Yemeni government operates based on 'international laws' and their efforts are aimed at preserving the lives of all 'children and civilians.' Last month, Saudi Arabia formed a unit called the 'Children's Unit,' which, according to al-Mualimi, was established to ensure the 'protection' of children in all operations and programs of the coalition against the rebels. According to this report, it was expected that the United Nations would publish such a report against Saudi Arabia, as last year, Ban Ki-moon, the former UN Secretary-General, had placed Saudi Arabia on the blacklist for the same reason. However, he later removed Saudi Arabia's name from this list. But António Guterres, the new UN Secretary-General, changed the blacklist and submitted his annual report on countries violating human rights, which included Saudi Arabia, to the Security Council on Thursday. Yemen, located in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, has been in a state of civil war since September 2014 following the Houthi rebels' attack on Sana'a and the overthrow of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government. Since March 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia has entered the war in support of Mansour's government against the Houthis. Since then, the Shiite Houthis, who are supported by Iran, have lost southern territories but still control Sana'a and parts of northern Yemen. As a result of the civil war in Yemen, more than 10,000 people have been killed, and over three million have been displaced. The outbreak of cholera in the country has also led to the deaths of at least two thousand people just this year.