国际英语资讯:Feature: Yemeni children commemorate lost parents on anniv. of 2016 funeral hall airstrike_时事

国际英语资讯:Feature: Yemeni children commemorate lost parents on anniv. of 2016 funeral hall airstrike

Radhwan was among nearly 1,000 civilians packed in the hall on Oct. 8, 2016 to mourn the death of the father of a rebel official who was then close to the then Houthi-allied former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"Radhwan was all our lives, he said goodbye to me and kissed his three children before leaving our house to the funeral hall," the 33-year-old mother, Sameerah, recalled.

Saudi-led coalition blamed the Yemeni internationally recognized government for the mistaken funeral hall airstrike, as the Yemeni government allegedly provided wrong information.

The United Nations strongly condemned the airstrike. Many foreign countries promised to halt weapons sales to the states of the Arab coalition forces.

The Yemeni conflict escalated in September 2017 after the Houthi rebels, who are allied with Iran, seized control of the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north.

Saudi Arabia led a mostly Arab coalition forces to roll back Houthis and reinstate the government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

In the next chair, 11-year-old Haytham Ahmed al-Arashi sat beside his older brother Abdulelah, 21 years old, rising a large picture of their father killed here by the airstrike.

"We were at home then and two hours after my dad left home, we heard very big shocking news ... Few hours later, we were informed that our father was killed in the airstrike ... My mom fell sick and got mentally ill," Abdulelah said.