Saudi-led coalition denies war crimes, says bus legitimate target

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition has denied that a vehicle targeted in an airstrike last month in Yemen was a school bus full of children, despite much evidence to the contrary.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition has denied that a vehicle targeted in an airstrike last month in Yemen was a school bus full of children, despite much evidence to the contrary.

His remarks followed a statement from Human Rights Watch on Sunday that called the attack an “apparent war crime.”

The bus attacked on August 9 was “a legitimate target,” Colonel Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said in an interview with CNN.

He claimed that intelligence information showed that the bus was “not a school bus because there is no school at that time when the incident happened.”

“We never observed any kids on the bus,” al-Maliki said, adding the “coalition conducted the attack against Houthi commanders and some Houthi element fighters in that bus.”

Al-Maliki also cast doubt on video footage and pictures from the scene of airstrike, because the source of such evidence is unclear.