Saudi airstrike in Yemen kills 29 children

At least 50 people died in an airstrike Thursday by the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition in the rebel-controlled region of Yemen, according to local media. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that the strike hit a civilian bus in the northern Saada governorate and at least 29 children were among the dead. Approximately 77 people were injured, reported Yemen’s rebel Al Masirah television. Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki defended the attack on Saada as a “legitimate military action” and blamed Houthi rebels for recruiting children and using them in the battlefields to cover for their actions. The coalition targeted Houthis in retaliation for a rebel attack that killed one person and injured 11 others in Saudi Arabia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the airstrike and called on all the warring groups to respect international humanitarian law, “in particular, the fundamental rules of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.”