RIYADH — Col. Turki Al-Malki, spokesman of the Arab Coalition fighting to support legitimacy in Yemen, has said that a recent United Nations report had relied on misinformation. Addressing a press conference in Riyadh on Monday, he stressed the Coalition Command’s rejection of the report issued by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres containing some false data and information on children who lost their lives in the armed conflict in Yemen. “The report included false and baseless information that were derived from local organizations supported by Yemen’s former president. These organizations provided the UN staff with the incorrect information,” Al-Malki said, stressing such claims were not documented by image, place or time.

Al-Maliki pointed out that the National Commission of Inquiry has mentioned in its latest reports on human rights violations that there are more than 100 cases of children who lost their lives on the battlefield where Houthi militias moved them to capital Sanaa, and issued death certificates for them, citing that such figures contained numerous conflicting reports. The reports also showed that there are some cases whereas children at the age of 12 were recruited. Refuting the authenticity of these figures, Al-Malki said that the Coalition had reliable data that has not been exchanged with the United Nations, pointing out that there are cases of recruitment of children at the age of just eight.

The spokesman held Houthi militias responsible for children who lost their lives due to recruiting and sending them to the battlefield. He also noted that the Yemeni government has declared its adherence to the political solution to the Yemeni crisis in the interest of the Yemeni people, citing the previous government’s statement confirming that the Houthi militias have been intransigent on reaching a political solution that solves this crisis. — SG/SPA