Saudi-led air force bombing has “mistakenly” led to the deaths of at least 30 Yemeni fighters loyal to fugitive president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, local officials said, adding that the coalition reportedly “hit the wrong target.”
The strike on the military camp in Yemen’s Waziya, located between the southeastern provinces of Taiz and Lahj, left at least another 40 wounded. One official from the Hadi administration said that “the coalition raid hit the wrong target.”
Medical sources and witnesses on the ground also confirmed that the strike on the camp resulted in numerous casualties, placing the number of fatalities at between 20 and 30 soldiers, RT reported.
However, a commander of Hadi-loyal forces in the area, Abedrabbo al-Mehwali said only “eight fighters were killed and 25 wounded.”
“They thought the Houthis were still there,” another pro-government security official said.
The strike targeted a mountainous region close to the city of Taiz where fighting has been ongoing between local combatants and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh (in power 1990-2012).
In addition to striking the pro-government encampment, the Saudi-led airstrikes also reportedly destroyed a house in the Al-Wazeyah district of Taiz province, killing a family of ten, the official Yemeni state news agency SABA reported.
Further strikes in Taiz killed another eight civilians on Saturday, when the jets targeted the Central Bank of Yemen, Hayel Residential Compound and a medical compound in the city. Dozens of civilians were injured.
