An airstrike was carried out against a prison in Saada, the Houthi rebel stronghold. The NGO Doctors Without Borders denounces a “horrible” act.
At least 70 people were killed and around 100 injured in an airstrike on a rebel-held prison in Yemen on Friday, an attack attributed to the Saudi-led coalition which denied responsibility. A few hours earlier, Thursday evening, this military coalition intervening since 2015 in the country at war, claimed responsibility for a raid against the city of Hodeida (west). It claimed the lives of three children according to an NGO.
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Saudi Arabia leads the coalition made up of Muslim countries including the United Arab Emirates, which supports Yemeni government forces against Houthi rebels backed by Iran.
In the middle of the night, an aerial bombardment hit a prison in Saada, the Houthi stronghold in the north. At least 70 people were killed and 138 injured, according to the NGO Médecins sans frontières (MSF), which denounced an attack “horrible“. This assessment concerns only one hospital in Saada, “two other establishments having received numerous injuries“. “Search continues in the rubbleadded MSF.
It was not immediately possible to know who the detainees were or how many there were. But eight NGOs including Action Against Hunger, Oxfam and Save the Children, said in a joint statement that among the dead would be migrants. Saying “horrified“, they denounced a”blatant indifferencefor the lives of civilians.
The United States called on Friday for the “de-escalation“, referring to”more than 100 victims in the last few daysincluding at least 70 dead in the airstrike on the prison, according to the State Department. Saada’s attack was not claimed but the Houthis blamed the coalition, which controls Yemen’s airspace.
UN boss Antonio Guterres condemned him “the Saudi-led coalition strikes on a detention center in Saada“which, according to him, have”leaves at least 60 dead and more than 100 injured“. He also denounced the strikes in Hodeidah and demanded “effective investigations“.
On Saturday morning, the coalition denied any targeting of the Saana detention center, denouncing a “disinformationof the rebellion. In a statement, quoted by the official Saudi press agency, the coalition said it had examined this information in a way “extremely serious» before concluding that they were «unfounded» and were not based on «no basis“.
The rebels broadcast a video showing images presented as the consequences of the strike in Saada: destroyed buildings, rescuers clearing bodies and mutilated corpses.
“Proportionate response»
On Thursday evening, the coalition targeted the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah, through which most of the humanitarian aid destined for the country passes. At least three children were killed, according to Save the Children. “They were apparently playing on a nearby soccer field when the missiles fell.The coalition said it targeted Hodeidah a “hub of piracy and organized crime”.; After the raid, the internet was cut in the country.
In Saudi Arabia, the anti-aircraft defense forces intercepted and destroyed on Friday evening a missile fired from Saada towards the region of Khamis Mushait (south), which is home to a large air base, according to the coalition.
The strikes in Yemen came after the Houthis claimed a drone and missile attack on Monday against oil and airport facilities in Abu Dhabi, capital of the Emirates (three dead).