Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has rejected a United Nations report that criticised the military coalition it is leading in Yemen, saying it was based primarily on information supplied by its adversaries.
On Thursday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon added the Saudi-led coalition to an annual blacklist of states and armed groups that violate children’s rights during conflicts.
It also blacklisted Al Houthis and forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, which have already featured on the annual list for the past five years.
However, coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmad Asseri said in a statement sent to Reuters late on Sunday that the UN had not based enough of its report on information supplied by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
Asseri has criticised reports by international human rights organisations of civilian deaths caused by coalition air strikes as coming after inadequate investigation.
The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and other monitoring agencies have also criticised Al Houthis for what they describe as indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas and the use of child soldiers.
They have said their reports are based on eyewitness testimony and have in some cases followed visits by international monitors to the sites of air strikes.
