On March 15, 2016, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a market in northwestern Yemen killed at least 97 civilians, including 25 children. On April 7, Human Rights Watch confirmed in a report that the two strikes were carried out with massive United-States-supplied bombs that weighed 2,000 pounds each. 

The strikes hit a crowded market and an area in front of a restaurant and shops in the village of Mastaba, causing indiscriminate or foreseeably disproportionate loss of civilian lives, in violation of the laws of war. Such unlawful attacks when carried out deliberately or recklessly are considered war crimes. General Ahmad al-Assiri, Saudi military spokesperson for the coalition said that the coalition knew the strike hit a civilian commercial area, while targeting “a militia gathering.” A United Nations human rights team compiled the names of the 97 victims killed in the strike, among whom 10 were identified as Houthi fighters.

Human Rights Watch, along with other international and Yemeni groups, have called for foreign governments to halt sales and transfers of all weapons and military-related equipment to parties in the conflict in Yemen.  Since 26 March 2015, the UN and NGOs have documented numerous airstrikes that have violated laws of war. Human Rights Watch alone has documented 36 unlawful airstrikes, in which at least 550 civilians were killed.

To read more, visit:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/07/yemen-us-bombs-used-deadliest-market-strike
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-us-bombs-used-deadliest-market-strike
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/middleeast/report-ties-us-bombs-to-saudi-led-strike-that-killed-yemeni-civilians.html?_r=0