Sources reveal toll of coalition aerial attacks on Afar customs center in Bayda

At least three people were wounded and many other went missing as an initial toll of Saudi-led coalition aerial attacks on the Afar customs center in Bayda province, sources in the local authority said.

“There are locomotives’ drivers, including foreigners are among the missing,” the sources added.

According to the sources, “the bombing of the Afar customs center by coalition aircraft resulted in the burning of 11 locomotives, which included food, household items and generators”.

The Saudi-led coalition warplanes and the UNITED Arab Emirates bombed the Afar customs center in Bayda province by several airstrikes early Saturday, leaving “civilians dead and wounded and a number of tankers carrying cargo burned.”

The customs authority said it “was unable to know the number of dead and injured as a result of the attack launched by the coalition air forces on the Afar customs center in Al-Bayda because of the continued flight of hostile aircraft over the airspace over the area”.

The United Nations had been informed about the site of the Afar customs center when it was launched in Bayda province, which is the main port for the flow of food and medicine after the closure and siege of the port of Hodeidah,” Customs authority said.

“This attack is not the first on civilian sites, as the aggression has already bombed the Maytam customs center more than once and the customs office and customs control office of Dhamar province,” the customs department said, according to  State news agency (Saba).

“The Saudi-led coalition of aggression and the United Nations have been fully responsible,” the customs authority said in a press release.

It also called on International organizations to protect civilian dignitaries and citizens from crimes committed by Saudi-led aggression countries.

According to international law,  targeting civilian facilities is a “full-fledged war crime” in international humanitarian and criminal law, and “endangering the lives of civilians and targeting their livelihoods is a war crime.

E.M