Saudi coalition: ‘Technical mistake’ in deadly Yemen strike

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The Saudi-led coalition battling rebels in Yemen says an airstrike that killed at least 14 civilians, including eight members of a single family, was the result of a “technical mistake.”

Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said in a statement that Friday’s bombing in the capital, Sanaa, was “accidental” and “unintentional.”

He expressed “sincere sympathy” in his statement Sunday, and said the planned target of the airstrike was a “legitimate military objective” belonging to the Houthi rebels, who control the capital.

The bombing in the neighbourhood of Fag Attan struck a three-story building occupied by at least three families. It came just days after at least 41 people died when aircraft bombed a small hotel in the town of Arhab, north of Sanaa.