“The Norwegian Refugee Council is profoundly disturbed by attacks that killed and maimed school children in Sana’a yesterday. We are outraged by the escalating violence across many parts of the country and by the apparent refusal of parties to the conflict to engage meaningfully in peace talks.
The cruel nature of yesterday’s attack is too familiar to communities across Yemen. It hit a densely-populated urban, residential area in the middle of the day. It killed five or more children in their classrooms. It caused injuries that will invariably devastate scores of lives and shatter the confidence of families already contending with the broader consequences of this war.
We call on parties to the conflict to revisit and renew the commitments they made in the peace talks in Stockholm and uphold their responsibilities under the Laws of War. We urge the international community to undertake independent investigations into such attacks on civilians and the United Nations Security Council to support conditions that enable these. Incidents of this kind undermine any positive steps taken towards reaching a political resolution for Yemen and must stop immediately.”
