Sunday, two shores, two tallies. In Saada, northern Yemen, the Houthi Health Ministry announced an airstrike on a house, in the Sahar district: at least nine dead, among them five children and two women, 19 wounded, 11 of them children. Spokesman Anees al-Asbahi blamed Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, The Times of Israel writes, had no immediate comment. Saba, the Houthi agency, wrote nine dead and 16 wounded, “most of them women and children”, a toll not final. RTE carried Saba. Two wound figures. The same house. The NYT put the fighting on the wire.

In Najran, southern Saudi Arabia, civil defence announced a Houthi projectile on a residential area: six injured, three homes, three vehicles. SPA published the photograph. That is the Saudi communiqué. It is not a verdict on Saada.

A Saudi attack helicopter crashed in the south-west, two crew dead. The Saudi military spokesman: a technical malfunction, near Najran, in a fighting zone. The Houthis claimed the shoot-down. Turki al-Maliki spoke hours later. Two stories. One aircraft.

The war, dormant for years, flared again in July. In September the Houthis took the Red Sea coast. Since then, attacks on airports, energy, ships. RTE: 13 dead last week at Riyadh’s airport. Yahya Saree: 53 Saudi strikes in 24 hours, Sanaa and six other provinces. A Houthi-affiliated agency accused civilian homes in Dhamar and Taiz: 12 dead, more than 30 wounded, cluster bombs. That is their accusation. It is not a UN report in this article.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of encouraging the escalation. Tehran denies it. Araghchi offers mediation. Afrah al-Zouba, foreign minister of the recognised Yemeni government, rejected it: Tehran is a party, not a mediator. The civilians’ names in Sahar are not public. Until an independent inquiry, ministries and agencies remain.

Until an inquiry, two tallies remain. After an inquiry, the houses remain. Anyone who mixes them turns a communiqué into a numbered cemetery.

Image: Rod Waddington, the old-city market in Sanaa, 1 October 2013, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The photograph shows Sanaa, not the house in Sahar.

Sources consulted: Houthi-Saudi clashes in Yemen — The New York Times; Nine said killed in Saudi strike on Houthis as sides continue trading fire — Times of Israel; Houthi media says Saudi strike kills 9 in northern Yemen — RTÉ.