By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA): The UN human rights office on Tuesday expressed deep concern over escalating conflict in Yemen.

“We are deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of the conflict in Yemen. Overnight, airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on the capital, Sanaa, are reported to have left at least five civilians dead,” High Commissioner for Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said at a UN press conference in Geneva.

According to preliminary information, those killed by Saudi-led coalition bombing, were five members of the same family, including two women and a child, when a house was hit in the Ma’in district the previous evening.

Two other women and a child were reported to have been injured, said the UN official.

Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister, Hussein el-Ezzi, tweeted on Tuesday that the overnight coalition strikes killed nearly 20 civilians including women and children.

The latest airstrikes followed missile and drone attacks Monday claimed by Ansarallah [Houthis] on the United Arab Emirates, a coalition partner of Saudi Arabia.

“These attacks on Abu Dhabi’s international airport and a nearby industrial area were reported to have left three civilians dead,” said Shamdasani, adding that the conflict in Yemen has intensified in 2022.

On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition forces announced that they are carrying out airstrikes on Sanaa in response to the latest attacks on Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, by the Houthis.

“Amid this escalation, we call on all parties to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects, in line with their obligations under international law,” said Shamdasani.

She said that any attack, including airstrikes, should fully respect the principles of “distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.”

The UN official said that figures collected by the Human Rights Office indicate that there have been 839 airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition so far in January, compared with 1,074 for the whole December last year.

In December, she said that some 16 drone strikes, 12 ballistic missiles, and three other projectiles were fired by the Houthis toward Saudi territory.

In January, reports indicated 10 drone strikes toward Saudi Arabia.

A Houthi commander was killed in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the capital Sanaa, the Yemeni rebel group said on Tuesday.

The Houthi-run Saba news agency said Brigadier General Abdullah Qassem al-Junaid, the head of the Aviation Academy, and his family were killed in an attack targeting his house late Monday.

There was no comment from the Saudi-led coalition on the report.

[Photo: Yemenis inspect the damage after the Saudi-led coalition forces carried out airstrikes in Sana’a , Yemen on January 18, 2022. Photographer: Mohammed Hamoud/AA]