Dozens of human rights activists and Yemeni Americans gathered outside the White House on Friday to express their outrage at Saudi Arabia's airstrikes on Yemen that have mostly targeted civilians killing scores of women and children. According to Tasnim dispatches, during the demonstrations on Friday, dozens of human rights activists as well as Yemenis residing in the US gathered outside the White House, where Saudi Arabia's King Salman was to arrive for a meeting with US President Barack Obama, to call for an end to Riyadh's aggression. Participants in the rally lashed out at Saudi regime's malign activities and atrocities in the region, including its role in the formation of the ISIL terrorist group, by chanting slogans that condemned Saudi Arabia as being the same, in essence, as ISIL. Protestors on Friday also called on the Saudi king to respect human rights inside Saudi Arabia. They carried placards reading "women driving is not terrorism". Saudi Arabia, spearheading a coalition of Arab states, began airstrikes against Yemen on March 26, in an attempt to restore power to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Over 4,300 people have been killed in five months of war in Yemen while disease and suffering in the already impoverished country have spread. Human rights groups have already condemned the Saudi-led intervention for not protecting civilians and causing widespread destruction. Amnesty International said in a report this month that the campaign had left a "bloody trail of civilian death" which could amount to war crimes.
