Yemeni war: 8-year-old boy left partially blind

Waleed, 8, is one of 217 Yemeni children who were injured in air raids by the Saudi Coalition in the past 12 months.

According to the international NGO, Save the Children, which changed Waleed’s name to protect his privacy, the little boy was in grade two when he was partially blinded by an air strike.

“ Waleed always complains about headaches, because of the increased eye pressure of the operation and the presence of fluids, so he needs other operations to remove the fluid from the eye. There are many risks involved. Even the doctor told us that there was a 50% chance that his eye would shrink (atrophy) and a 50% chance that the operation would be successful “, his mother said.

Children are frequently injured or killed in Yemen. On August 9, 2018, an air strike hit a bus crossing a market in Dahyan, a town in northern Sa’ada, killing 40 children and injuring many others, according to the Houthi armed group that controls the province.

“ What we see today are the victims of the air attack. The terrible human cost of the air attack and the war. The whole world condemns this. The Secretary General of the United Nations has called for an immediate, transparent, full and independent investigation into this case “, said Lie Grande, Humanitarian coordinator at the United Nations.

Amid outrage from international human rights groups and UN officials, Riyadh continues to defend the raid as a “legitimate military action” to strike Houthi militia leaders, a day after authorizing a coalition probe into the attack.

Reuters*