[19/11/2017 05:46]

RIYADH-SABA
The Arab Coalition is acting in accordance with the international humanitarian law, the standard rules of engagement and its own customary rules when dealing with military targets belonging to the Houthi-Saleh rebel militias.

The Saudi Press Agency quoted Mansour Ahmed Al-Mansourthe spokesman for the Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT)stating in a press conference in Riyadh on Sunday, that "JIAT verifies all claims around the military operations which the Arab Coalition carries out " and announces the results through regular press conferences.

He said that the Coalition's targets are "based on precise intelligence" reviewing and justifying a number of strikes on which unfounded allegations of civilian harm were made or exaggerated.

Largely the controversial sites are "legitimate targets" hit by precise bombs despite the rebels' strategy to embed themselves and set up their military posts and weapons depots in and near civilian buildings.

He cited the allegations of the OHCHR in their annual report issued in 2016-08-04 that the Coalition struck Al-Sabeen Hospital and killed two children and damaged the building. Addressing the allegation he said JIAT's investigations found the strike was on a site inside the Special Forces Camp near the hospital, not the hospital itself. The tipoff was the rebels-aligned Republican Guards were convening a military planning meeting when the strike hit them with a precisely guided bomb.

He said that the hospital was subject collateral damages as a result of the blow of the attack not by a bomb.

As for al-Sunaydar Factory struck on 12 and 22 September 2016, he said the earlier aerial reconnaissance had established that the site housed ballistic missiles which are fired against the Saudi territories.

He said that the nature of military activities in the said factory strips it off legal protection and makes it a legitimate target.

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