Explosion Destroys Part Of Yemen's UNESCO Heritage Site; Saudi Arabia Denies Responsibility

Source: New York Times via OCRegister

BY RICK CLADSTONE / THE NEW YORK TIMES

A protected 2,500-year-old cultural heritage site in Yemen’s capital was obliterated in an explosion early Friday, and witnesses and news reports said the cause was a missile or bomb from a Saudi warplane. The Saudi military denied responsibility.

The top antiquities-safeguarding official at the United Nations angrily condemned the destruction of ancient multistory homes, towers and gardens, which also killed an unspecified number of residents in Al Qasimi, a neighborhood in Sanaa’s Old City area.

“I am profoundly distressed by the loss of human lives as well as the damage inflicted on one of the world’s oldest jewels of Islamic urban landscape,” said the official, Irina Bokova, the director general of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

“I am shocked by the images of these magnificent many-story tower-houses and serene gardens reduced to rubble,” she said in a statement posted on the UNESCO website, calling on all antagonists in the Yemen conflict to respect the country’s cultural treasures.

Read more: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/yemen-666240-city-old.html

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UNESCO Condemns Air Strike On Yemen Site

Published: 12:04 pm, Saturday, 13 June 2015
UNESCO has condemned an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on Old Sanaa, a heritage site in Yemen.

UNESCO has condemned an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on Old Sanaa, a heritage site in Yemen's capital it described as 'one of the world's oldest jewels' of Islamic culture.

'This destruction will only exacerbate the humanitarian situation and I reiterate my call to all parties to respect and protect cultural heritage in Yemen,' said UNESCO director general Irina Bokova in a statement.

'I am profoundly distressed by the loss of human lives as well as by the damage inflicted on one of the world's oldest jewels of Islamic urban landscape.'

The pre-dawn air strike by the Saudi-led coalition killed five people and destroyed three houses in the UNESCO-listed site.

Residents said it was the first direct hit on old Sanaa since the start of the bombing campaign against Huthi rebels in late March.

- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/mideast/2015/06/13/unesco-condemns-air-strike-on-yemen-site.html#sthash.rdp37Bix.dpuf