REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ADEN -- Warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition missed the target and mistakenly killed at least 10 civilians in Yemen's southern province of Lahj on Wednesday, a security official told Xinhua.
"The Saudi-led fighter jets were aiming to pound a house held by al-Qaida militants in the Mahlah area of Lahj province but mistakenly killed 10 civilians at the scene," the Yemeni security source said on condition of anonymity.
"All the victims were members of one family and about four others were critically injured," the source said.
A military intelligence officer told Xinhua that "some wanted al-Qaida commanders were hiding in a building in the same residential neighborhood of Mahlah in Lahj province."
"Unfortunately, the al-Qaida terrorists escaped the Saudi-led airstrike and the civilians were mistakenly killed," the intelligence source said.
A source of Lahj's local government told Xinhua that "a committee composed of high-ranking military experts and tribal chiefs was formed to conduct an immediate investigation regarding the incident."
Last month, the Yemeni government forces launched an anti-terror offensive and drived out scores of gunmen linked to the al-Qaida and the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) from key neighborhoods and government compounds in Lahj.
The pro-government forces backed by the UAE helicopters continued to make significant gains and recaptured key areas from the al-Qaida militants in the country's southern provinces and in southeastern province of Hadramout during the past weeks.
However, Yemen's temporary capital of Aden and other provinces controlled by the internationally recognized government are still witnessing a state of chaos and lawlessness that resulted in the assassinations of several high-ranking security and military officials.
The turbulent and complicated security situation in Aden and neighboring southern provinces of Lahj and Abyan is one of the biggest challenges for the Saudi-led Arab coalition forces operating in Aden.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition has dispatched thousands of soldiers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sudan and Bahrain into five anti-Houthi southern provinces to support and train local Yemeni security forces there.
Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East and the affiliate of the IS.
The security situation in the country has deteriorated since March 2015 when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
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