Saudi-led Coalition, carrying brutal aggression on Yemen since March 2015, denied responsibility for the raid which killed dozens of Somali refugees near Yemeni port of Hodeida.
In a statement the coalition called on Sunday for Hodeida port to be placed under UN supervision.
“We are also aware of allegations that the attack was carried out by a helicopter and naval vessel belonging to the Saudi-led coalition,” the statement said.
“We can confirm the coalition was not responsible for any attack on a refugee boat on Friday and… there was no firing by any coalition forces on Friday in the area” of Hodeida.
The coalition called for the port there “to be placed immediately under United Nations supervision”.
“This would facilitate the flow of humanitarian supplies to the Yemeni people, while at the same time ending the use of the port for weapons smuggling and people trafficking.”
Somalia has called on the coalition to investigate the incident in which more than 40 Somali refugees were shot dead on board a boat.
Somalia itself is a member of the coalition carrying out aggression against Yemen.
“We call on our partners in the Saudi-led coalition to investigate the raid,” Somalia’s Foreign Minister Abdusalam Omer said in a statement released Saturday.
Yemen has been under an aggression by Saudi-led coalition since March 2015. The brutal aggression has killed and injured tens of thousands of Yemenis, the vast majority of them were civilians.
Yemen ports and airports have been also under a blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, which also includes UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
Source: AFP
