The Saudi envoy to the United States denied Wednesday that the Saudi-led bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen had caused an unusually high number of civilian casualties and brushed off calls by U.N. officials and human rights groups for greater care in targeting.
Saudi-led pilots are working hard to “avoid and minimize civilian casualties,” Ambassador Adel al Jubeir said during a briefing on the 3-week-old air offensive aimed at reversing a Houthi takeover of much of the impoverished country of 25 million at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Jubeir also asserted that the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition was trying to speed up the delivery of food and other humanitarian aid to Yemen, where a humanitarian crisis has been intensifying amid growing shortages of bread, medicines, fuel and other basic goods.
The envoy’s comments came as at least five ships carrying food and other assistance reportedly sat off Yemen’s coast, blocked from entering the country’s waters while Saudi-led coalition warships searched them for weapons.
“We have to ascertain that any ships do not contain weapons,” Jubeir said.
Jubeir spoke a day after United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein added his voice to those of other U.N. officials and international human rights groups expressing concern over the growing civilian casualty toll from airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition of nine Sunni Muslim-dominated Arab states.
At least 364 civilians have reportedly been killed since March 26, including 84 children and 25 women. More than 680 other civilians have been injured, although both totals are widely believed to be higher.
U.N. officials in Geneva reported Wednesday that Saudi bombing was taking place in 18 of Yemen’s 22 provinces and that the U.N. refugee agency was making contingency plans to support 30,000 Yemeni refugees in Djibouti and 100,000 in Somalia.
While U.N. officials also have blamed the rising toll on the Houthis and allied military units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, they have pointed to frequent strikes against civilian targets by Saudi-led aircraft, including schools and hospitals.
Jubeir dismissed those assertions.
“A lot of those reports I’d take with a grain of salt,” he said, adding that the Houthis were “hiding” fighters and weapons in civilian areas, “making it more complicated to go after them.”
He denied reports that Saudi aircraft had bombed a camp for internally displaced people in northern Yemen on March 30 and a dairy plant two days later in the port city of Hodeidah, which he said was actually struck by rockets fired by Houthi rebels. More than 60 people were reportedly killed and scores injured in the two incidents, which were the subject of protests from U.N. officials and human rights groups.
The Houthis, a faction from northern Yemen whose members practice the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam, are backed by Iran. They launched their offensive after a breakdown in negotiations on ending political turmoil that engulfed the country, forcing President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia. Concerned at Iran’s involvement and the advantage the chaos is giving to local affiliates of al Qaida and the Islamic State, Riyadh launched its air campaign on March 26.
The Obama administration agreed to provide the Saudi-led alliance with intelligence and logistical support, adding a new level of complication to U.S. involvement in the strife engulfing the region. In Iraq, the United States and Iran are backing the Iraqi government against the Islamic State, while in Syria, the United States is demanding the departure of President Bashar Assad, who is backed by Iran. At the same time, Washington is negotiating a deal with Iran to constrain its nuclear program.
Jubeir denied that Saudi Arabia is engaged in a proxy war with its regional rival, Iran.
“I would not describe the military operation in Yemen as a proxy war with Iran, but a war of necessity,” he said.
The aim is to compel the Houthis to resume negotiations on a political settlement and restore stability to Yemen, thereby protecting Saudi Arabia from threats posed by al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State and halting the flow of refugees into the kingdom.
He criticized comments made earlier to reporters by visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi, a Shiite, who said that the Saudis were not interested in a cease-fire and that the Obama administration broadly shared his concerns. Abadi also expressed fears that the Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm was a pretext for extending Saudi influence in the region.
“I don’t know how the Iraqi prime minister got to that assessment. But I would think the Iraqis should really focus on the problems that are in their own country,” said Jubeir.
McClatchy special correspondent John Zarocostas in Geneva contributed to this report.