A UN panel of experts said in a report for the UN Security Council in January 2016, which was leaked to The Guardian, that the Saudi-led coalition had undertaken 119 sorties in Yemen that violated international humanitarian law. The panel said it had "documented that the coalition had conducted airstrikes targeting civilians and civilian objects, in violation of international humanitarian law, including camps for internally displaced persons and refugees; civilian gatherings, including weddings; civilian vehicles, including buses; civilian residential areas; medical facilities; schools; mosques; markets, factories and food storage warehouses; and other essential civilian infrastructure, such as the airport in Sanaʽa, the port in Hudaydah and domestic transit routes". The report said: "Many attacks involved multiple airstrikes on multiple civilian objects. Of the 119 sorties, the panel identified 146 targeted objects. The panel also documented three alleged cases of civilians fleeing residential bombings and being chased and shot at by helicopters." While the UN experts were not allowed on the ground in Yemen, they studied satellite imagery of cities before and after attacks, that showed "extensive damage to residential areas and civilian objects". The UN panel concluded that "civilians are disproportionately affected" by the fighting and deplored tactics that "constitute the prohibited use of starvation as a method of warfare". The report said: "The coalition's targeting of civilians through airstrikes, either by bombing residential neighbourhoods or by treating the entire cities of Sa'dah and Maran as military targets, is a grave violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution. In certain cases, the panel found such violations to have been conducted in a widespread and systematic manner." The report called for an international commission, set up by the Security Council, that should "investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Yemen by all parties and to identify the perpetrators of such violations". Saudi Arabia had previously objected to an inquiry being set up.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia committed warships to support coalition operations. Somalia offered its airspace and territorial waters. Four Egyptian Navy vessels steamed toward the Gulf of Aden after operations began. Riyadh requested access to Somali airspace and waters to carry out operations. On 27 March, the Egyptian military said a squadron of Egyptian and Saudi warships took up positions at the Bab al-Mandab strait. The Saudi military threatened to destroy any ship attempting to make port.
More InfoPakistan was called on by Saudi Arabia to join the coalition, but its parliament voted to maintain neutrality. On February 2016 Academi, the security firm withdraw from front-line duties in the Yemen campaing. Qatar was suspended from the coalition due to the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis. Morocco ended their participation in 2019 due to deterioration of Morocco–Saudi Arabia relations followed by United Arab Emirates in July 2019 amid possible tensions with Iran on the Persian Gulf and differences with Saudi Arabia. Sudan announced its decision to reduce troops commitment from 15,000 to 5,000 in early December 2019.
More InfoSince the Saudi-led coalition began military operations against Ansar Allah on 26 March 2015, Saudi-led coalition airstrikes unlawfully struck hospitals and other facilities run by aid organizations, according to Human Rights Watch. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical facilities in Yemen were attacked four times in three months. On 26 October 2015, HRW documented six Saudi-led airstrikes which bombed a MSF hospital in Haydan district (Sa'dah Governorate), wounding two patients. A Saudi-led coalition airstrike then hit a MSF mobile clinic on 2 December 2015, in Al Houban district (Taizz). Eight people were wounded, including two MSF staff members, and one other civilian nearby was killed. On 10 January 2016, six people were killed and seven wounded when a hospital in Sa'ada was hit by a projectile. MSF said it could not confirm whether the hospital was hit in an air strike by warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition, or by a rocket fired from the ground, and at least one other landed nearby. On 21 January 2016, an MSF ambulance was hit by an airstrike. Seven people were killed and dozens were wounded.
More InfoEgypt and Saudi Arabia committed warships to support coalition operations. Somalia offered its airspace and territorial waters. Four Egyptian Navy vessels steamed toward the Gulf of Aden after operations began. Riyadh requested access to Somali airspace and waters to carry out operations. On 27 March, the Egyptian military said a squadron of Egyptian and Saudi warships took up positions at the Bab al-Mandab strait. The Saudi military threatened to destroy any ship attempting to make port.
More InfoEgypt and Saudi Arabia committed warships to support coalition operations. Somalia offered its airspace and territorial waters. Four Egyptian Navy vessels steamed toward the Gulf of Aden after operations began. Riyadh requested access to Somali airspace and waters to carry out operations. On 27 March, the Egyptian military said a squadron of Egyptian and Saudi warships took up positions at the Bab al-Mandab strait. The Saudi military threatened to destroy any ship attempting to make port.
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