Transparency, accountability needed on Saudi air strikes in Yemen: U.N.

People look at the gate of the northwestern city of Saada, Yemen after a Saudi-led air strike destroyed it, August 23, 2016. REUTERS/Naif Rahma

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights office called on Thursday for more light to be shed on the Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen and for violations including attacks on hospitals to be punished. "The coalition shared with us their internal investigation. And our observation as an office (is), we need to see more transparency in terms of these investigations," Mohammad Ali Alnsour, chief of the Middle East and North Africa section of the U.N. human rights office, told a briefing in Geneva. "The compensation of the victims is an important element but it is not the only element. We think there should be a kind of accountability and these violations not to be repeated again." Coalition air strikes are responsible for the largest part of the 3,799 civilians killed so far in Yemen and it has committed other violations that may contravene international law, the U.N. office said in a report earlier on Thursday. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by John Stonestreet)