UAE- Targeting house in Faj Atan incident under investigation of JIAT

RIYADH, 26th August 2017 (WAM) - The Joint Forces Command of the Arab Coalition for the Restoration of Legitimacy, in Yemen, issued statement here today on the alleged targeting of a house, in Faj Atan, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA), quoted Spokesman of the coalition forces Col. Turki al-Maliki, as that the joint command of the coalition has completed all post-action procedures for operational tasks carried out, as well as a comprehensive review of selected military objectives (including planning and counter-check procedures), to assess their compatibility with international humanitarian law and customary rules of targeting (Military necessity, discrimination, proportionality, as well as the rules of engagement of coalition forces).

The planned military objective was a legitimate military objective of a Command and Control Center, or Etisalat, which belongs to the Houthi armed militias, developed to take nearby residential areas and civilians as human shields, he added.

Documents and procedures relating to operational planning and implementation through the correctness of planning, implementation procedures and the presence of a (Technical) mistake was the cause of accidental as well as unintentional incident proven not to be directly targeting the aforementioned house.

On behalf of the coalition, he expressed deep sorrow over the occurrence of this unintentional and accidental incident, collateral damage to civilians and sincere sympathy with their relatives.

Col. al-Maliki said that the coalition command has started procedures of referring the accidental incident to the joint investigation of accidents' team (JIAT) to assess the incident, immediately, to complete formal procedures, stressing that the coalition commitment to the full implementation of the provisions of international humanitarian law, especially on the protection of civilians and application of highest standards of targeting as well as legal and ethical commitment to the principle of transparency, in occasional accident cases.

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