9th May 2015, Saudi led coalition airstrikes damage Imam al-Hadi mosque and destroy market in Saada City Yemen

On 9th May 2015, the Saudi led coalition airstrikes destroyed a market outside Imam al-Hadi's mosque in Saada City. This is the Human Rights Watch report of the incident:

Market Opposite the Imam al-Hadi Mosque

Coalition airstrikes hit the fountain and market outside the Imam al-Hadi mosque’s eastern gate in Saada City. The strike likely took place in the morning on May 9. Local people told Human Rights Watch that the mosque had been closed and unavailable for prayer since March 26, the beginning of the coalition air campaign.

Ali Mahmoud al-Hamoud, 22, a laborer, told Human Rights Watch that he was at the gate of the mosque in the morning when he heard an airplane overhead. Then a bomb hit the fountain in the square in front of the mosque, which is surrounded by a small market with about a dozen shops. He fled but heard several more strikes hit the same area about 15 minutes later.

Talal al-Aizug, 28, a security officer living next door to the mosque, said he was at home with his family when the first strike hit. He told Human Rights Watch that he had heard an airplane flying overhead since 7 a.m. He heard strikes in the far distance earlier, and then a massive explosion as a bomb hit the market in front of his house. Fragments and debris flew through the window of the second floor of his home, into the room he was sitting in, lacerating his head and the side of his chest, and broke through the walls at the corner of the house. He showed Human Rights Watch the injuries he had sustained.

The attack destroyed the fountain and all of the shops, and left a crater about three meters deep and six meters in diameter.

When Human Rights Watch visited the site researchers observed that the Houthis had posted armed guards at the entrance to the mosque. However, the presence of armed guards would not render the mosque a military target. Dropping multiple bombs on guards near a market appears unlawfully indiscriminate or disproportionate.

Human Rights Watch reviewed satellite imagery recorded on the morning of May 10 and identified four probable impact locations from separate air-dropped munitions on this market and immediately adjacent buildings on either side of the market. Human Rights Watch found no evidence of any military objective in the immediate area.

Targeting Saada: Unlawful Coalition Airstrikes on Saada City in Yemen
June 30, 2015 Human Rights Watch

Breaking:Saudi has just targeted Immam Alhadi mosque in Sadda N #Yemen .3rd mosque to be build in Yemen 1100 year ago pic.twitter.com/WRMrBf0zV1

— Hussain Albukhaiti (@HussainBukhaiti) May 9, 2015

The following video show the damage and injuries following the airstrike at the mosque gate on that day.

WARNING: the following video is graphic and distressing.



The following video shows footage of other airstrikes that also took place that day in the area of Haydan.


The following daily report from the Legal Center for Rights and Development confirms the attack on Imam al-Hadi mosque that day.

Ref: 15050901