(Image source from: BBC.com)

The United Nations human rights experts on Tuesday pointed to possible war crimes by pro-government forces in Yemen, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, and Houthi rebels in areas under their control.

Both sides and the Arab coalition "violated international laws that may amount to war crimes", stated the Group of Regional and International Eminent Experts on Yemen, created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2017.

According to a report by BBC, they alleged that the Yemeni government forces and the rebel Houthi movement made a little endeavor to minimize civilian casualties and pointed to the bombing and shelling of schools, hospitals, and markets, in which thousands of people died.

"Individuals in the government of Yemen and the coalition, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) … have committed acts that may, subject to determination by an independent and competent court, amount to international crimes," the experts said.

They added that the Arab coalition's airstrikes caused the majority of civilian deaths as a direct consequence of the bombing of "residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities".

The coalition, on Monday, accused the UN of bias for condemning two airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas that reportedly killed hundreds of Yemeni children earlier this week. Spokesman Turki al-Malki said the UN's information was based on "rebel stories".

Since September 2014, the experts have looked into abuses and rapes committed in Yemen, when Houthi rebels took Sana'a and provinces in the north and west of the country and threw out the government from the capital.

The conflict escalated in March 2015 with the intervention of the Arab coalition, supported by the United States, the BBC said.

According to the UN Office for Human Rights, since March 2015, 6,660 civilians have died in the war and 10,563 have been wounded, although the real figure may be significantly higher.

The coalition and pro-government forces may likewise have committed war crimes for having resorted to "cruel treatment and torture, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 or using them to participate actively in hostilities".

According to the report, there was repeated information on the use of children as young as 8 years old on both sides of the conflict.

The coalition's naval blockade and air may as well be a war crime, the experts warned. The report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in September.

By Sowmya Sangam