Investigators linked to the Saudi-led military alliance in Yemen have admitted "mistakes" in a deadly airstrike on a bus last month and called the attack "not justified."
At least 51 people, including 40 children, were killed in the August 9 attack, which struck a school bus in a market in rebel territory in Dahyan, part of the northern province of Saada, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The wreckage of the bus carrying children in Yemen. Source: AAP
Mansour al-Mansour, a spokesman for the legal team of the Saudi-led coalition, said those responsible for the "mistakes" in the airstrike should be held accountable.
"Management of the air raid in Dahyan does not comply with the coalition's rules of engagement," al-Mansour said at a press conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
"The bombardment was not justified at that time because the target did not pose a danger to the coalition forces," he added.
Footage of the school children on a trip in Yemen moments before an airstrike. Source: CNN
Al-Mansour said there were rebels inside the bus.
At the time, local residents said the bus had been carrying students heading to a summer school when the strike hit near Dahyan market in Saada, which is a rebel stronghold near the Saudi border.
The strike was the latest in a series of attacks on civilians in the war-ravaged country.
More than 60,000 people have been killed or injured since the escalation of Yemen's violence in 2015, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian group.
