SANAA, Yemen – Seventeen civilians were killed in an attack in a market in Yemen's northern Saada governorate, the United Nations said, the third deadly assault on the same location in just over a month.The UN said 12 Ethiopian migrants were among the 17 civilians killed in the incident on December 24 at the Al-Raqw market in Saada governorate, a Huthi rebel stronghold.
At least 12 people were wounded, it said, without saying who was responsible or what weapons were used. An attack on Al-Raqw market on November 22 killed 10 civilians, again including Ethiopian nationals, and just days later, at least another 10 civilians were killed and 22 wounded in a second such incident.
"The attacks on Al-Raqw market raise deeply troubling questions about the commitment of the parties to the conflict to uphold international humanitarian law," Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said Wednesday.The UN says 89 civilians have either been killed or wounded in the attacks on the market.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced since March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemen conflict to back the government against the Huthi insurgents.