Saudi-led coalition hit Yemen funeral due to 'inaccurate information'

The Saudi-led coalition killed over 140 people at a funeral in the Yemeni capital last Sunday due to "inaccurate information" and a failure to comply with the rules of engagement, a report by the coalition admitted on Saturday morning.

"Because of non-compliance with coalition rules of engagement and procedures, and the issuing of incorrect information, a coalition aircraft wrongly targeted the location, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries," an inquiry team found.

The strike was one of the deadliest in the coalition's nearly 19-month-old bombing campaign in support of Yemen's beleaguered government.

More than 6,700 people have been killed in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country since the coalition first intervened, nearly two-thirds of them civilians, according to the United Nations.

The Joint Investigations Action Team (JIAT), which is made up of 14 military and legal experts from members of the Saudi-led coalition, delivered its final report into the incident on Saturday morning, urging legal action against those who led the bombing. 

According to the report, the air strike was launched based on intelligence that said there were armed Houthi leaders attending the funeral. 

"The intelligence was supplied by a body affiliated to the Yemeni chief of staff," the report said.

It is unclear whether the report urges legal action against the Yemeni officials who supplied the faulty intelligence, or against the coalition officials who launched the strike.

The report also urges members of the coalition to offer reparations to the victims, saying it will continue to work with "legitimate force," meaning supporters of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, to probe further evidence.

However, it also accuses some parties of "exploiting the incident" and exaggerating the death toll, which officially stands at 140.

This is the first time that Saudi Arabia, which hosts the operations room for the coalition, has admitted culpability for the strike.

It initally said it had not launched any strikes in the area at the time of the funeral bombing.

Top Saudi commentators also alleged that the strike was a "conspiracy" by Houthi rebels to eliminate internal enemies. 

Saudi Arabia has come under intense pressure in the aftermath of the attack. UK politicians visited Riyadh to discuss the attack last week and said on Friday that they would propose a UN Security Council referendum calling for a ceasefire in Yemen.