Rights group Amnesty International joined international condemnation of a suspected Saudi-led air strike that killed at least at least 14 civilians in the Yemeni capital Sanaa early on Friday, including five children.
"After more than two years of devastating conflict in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is as brazen as ever in its disregard for international humanitarian law," Amnesty said after the air raid on Sanaa's residential Faj Attan district destroyed three homes, burying people under rubble.
A four-year-old girl pulled alive from debris was the sole survivor in her family, after the air strike killed the other seven members, and there are fears the death-toll would rise further as rescuers pulled more victims from the rubble.
Amnesty quoted eye witnesses as saying there were no military targets i the area at the time of the attack. The claim was corroborated by the Red Cross in Yemen, which also deplored the attack and called the loss of civilian lives "outrageous" and "counter to the basic tenets of the law of armed conflict".
“In the aftermath of this night of horror there are serious questions for UN leaders, who last year made the shameful decision to remove the coalition from the list of violators of children’s rights in conflict”, said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty's Middle East research director.
The move was a direct result of diplomatic pressure from Saudi Arabia, Amnesty said.
"There is an urgent need to put Saudi Arabia under scrutiny for the raft of crimes under international law and other human rights violations its forces have committed in Yemen,” said Malouf.
The Saudi-led coalition said in a statement on Friday it was aware of the reports of the incident, would review all its operations in the region at that time and announce the results of the review.
The statement claimed the coalition rules of engagement were based on international humanitarian law and said it was committed to protecting civilians.
In what appeared to be a rare show of discontent at the government's main backer, Yemeni foreign minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhalfi tweeted that the Faj Attan attack "requires an investigation by the coalition".
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Liz Throssel on Friday in Geneva urged authorities to start "comprehensive and impartial investigations" into Friday's bloodshed.
Earlier this week, coalition fighters jets hit a hotel in Arhab, north of Sanaa, killing at lest 41 people. The number of air raids has tripled since the same period of last year, UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien said last week.
The conflict in Yemen has escalated dramatically since March 2015 when Saudi led forces launched a military operation against the Iran-aligned Shia Houthi movement in a war that has lasted over two years, killed at least 10,000 people and driven millions from their homes.
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