An Emirati minister, whose country belongs to the Saudi-led coalition battling rebels in Yemen, on Monday bemoaned the "ugly" side of war following the killing of about 40 Yemeni children in an air strike.
"This war has been and remains an ugly war," Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of state for foreign affairs, told a news conference in Dubai.
A coalition strike last Thursday hit a bus in Huthi rebel-held northern Yemen, killing dozens of children, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross.
Huthi officials gave a death toll of 51, including 40 children, and labelled the raid a "crime by America and its allies against the children of Yemen".
The coalition announced afterwards that it had ordered an investigation into the strike, which it initially said had targeted Huthi rebel combatants.
"In this war we have seen civilians shot at, bombed, killed and, unfortunately, this is really part of any confrontation," Gargash said, adding that both sides in the conflict had been to blame.
"War is not something that can be actually a clean operation," said the UAE minister.
Gargash played up the coalition's probe into the incident.
"In various conflicts many parties have not allowed neutral or independent investigations," he said.
The minister said those calling for independent investigations should instead urge the coalition "to tighten the rules of engagement".
Mourners held a mass funeral on Monday for the victims of the bus attack in the northern Yemeni city of Saada, where demonstrators vented their anger at Saudi Arabia.
The bus carrying the children was hit as it drove through a market in Dahyan, a town in Saada.
The coalition said on Friday it would investigate the strike after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and called for an independent probe.
The coalition initially said after the attack that the strike had targeted missile launchers that were used by the Houthis to attack the southern Saudi province of Jizan.
The Houthis' health minister Taha Mutawakil said last week that the number of casualties stood at 51 killed including 40 children, and at least 79 people wounded of whom 56 were children. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported the same toll on Friday, citing authorities in Saada.
The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Monday quoted a health official as saying another child had died from his wounds, raising the toll to 52.
The head of the Houthis' supreme revolutionary committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, attended the funeral and blamed the United States for "this ugly massacre of Yemeni children".
The United States and other Western powers provide arms and intelligence to the alliance, and human rights groups have criticised them over coalition air strikes that have killed hundreds of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets.
A U.S. military spokeswoman said US forces were not involved in Thursday's air strike. The US State Department urged the alliance to "conduct a thorough and transparent investigation".
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday he has dispatched a three-star general to Riyadh to "look into what happened".
The UN special envoy to Yemen has been shuttling between the warring parties ahead of holding consultations in Geneva on September 6 to try to end the conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed the impoverished Arab country to the verge of starvation, according to the United Nations.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said on Al-Hadath channel that his government welcomed the Geneva talks.
The UAE's Gargash said he hoped the Geneva talks signaled the start of a process that would lead to a political solution to the conflict.
A coalition strike last Thursday hit a bus in Huthi rebel-held northern Yemen, killing dozens of children, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross.
Huthi officials gave a death toll of 51, including 40 children, and labelled the raid a "crime by America and its allies against the children of Yemen".
The coalition announced afterwards that it had ordered an investigation into the strike, which it initially said had targeted Huthi rebel combatants.
"In this war we have seen civilians shot at, bombed, killed and, unfortunately, this is really part of any confrontation," Gargash said, adding that both sides in the conflict had been to blame.
"War is not something that can be actually a clean operation," said the UAE minister.
Gargash played up the coalition's probe into the incident.
"In various conflicts many parties have not allowed neutral or independent investigations," he said.
The minister said those calling for independent investigations should instead urge the coalition "to tighten the rules of engagement".
Mourners held a mass funeral on Monday for the victims of the bus attack in the northern Yemeni city of Saada, where demonstrators vented their anger at Saudi Arabia.
The bus carrying the children was hit as it drove through a market in Dahyan, a town in Saada.
The coalition said on Friday it would investigate the strike after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and called for an independent probe.
The coalition initially said after the attack that the strike had targeted missile launchers that were used by the Houthis to attack the southern Saudi province of Jizan.
The Houthis' health minister Taha Mutawakil said last week that the number of casualties stood at 51 killed including 40 children, and at least 79 people wounded of whom 56 were children. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported the same toll on Friday, citing authorities in Saada.
The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Monday quoted a health official as saying another child had died from his wounds, raising the toll to 52.
The head of the Houthis' supreme revolutionary committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, attended the funeral and blamed the United States for "this ugly massacre of Yemeni children".
The United States and other Western powers provide arms and intelligence to the alliance, and human rights groups have criticised them over coalition air strikes that have killed hundreds of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets.
A U.S. military spokeswoman said US forces were not involved in Thursday's air strike. The US State Department urged the alliance to "conduct a thorough and transparent investigation".
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday he has dispatched a three-star general to Riyadh to "look into what happened".
The UN special envoy to Yemen has been shuttling between the warring parties ahead of holding consultations in Geneva on September 6 to try to end the conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed the impoverished Arab country to the verge of starvation, according to the United Nations.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani said on Al-Hadath channel that his government welcomed the Geneva talks.
The UAE's Gargash said he hoped the Geneva talks signaled the start of a process that would lead to a political solution to the conflict.
