At least 68 killed in alleged US strike on Yemen prison

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say an alleged US air strike on a prison holding African migrants has killed at least 68 people.

The rebels’ Civil Defence organisation separately said 47 others had been wounded in Monday’s attack on Saada.

The US military had no immediate comment.

According to Yemen’s ministry of the interior, the prison was housing 115 migrants.

The strike in Saada, a stronghold for the Houthis, is the latest incident in the country’s decade-long war to kill African migrants from Ethiopia and other nations who risk crossing the nation for a chance to work in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The US military’s Central Command in a statement before news of the alleged strike sought to defend its policy of offering no specific details of its extensive air strike campaign.

“To preserve operational security, we have intentionally limited disclosing details of our ongoing or future operations,” Central Command said. “We are very deliberate in our operational approach, but will not reveal specifics about what we’ve done or what we will do.”

It did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about the alleged strike on Saada.

Graphic footage aired by the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel showed what appeared to be dead bodies and others wounded at the site. An al-Masirah correspondent said some 100 migrants had been detained.

Casualty figures weren’t immediately clear. However, footage from the site analysed by the AP suggested some kind of explosion took place, with the prison’s cement walls seemingly peppered by debris fragments and the wounds suffered by those there.

A woman’s voice, soft in the footage, can be heard repeating the start of a prayer in Arabic: “In the name of God.” An occasional gunshot rang out as medics sought to help those wounded.

Meanwhile, US air strikes overnight targeting the capital Sanaa killed at least eight people, the Houthis said. The American military acknowledged carrying out over 800 individual strikes in their month-long campaign.

US President Donald Trump has intensified military operations targeting Iran-backed Houthi forces, conducting the deadliest strike thus far earlier this month on a fuel terminal on the Red Sea that killed at least 74 people.

Washington has pledged to continue its attacks on the Houthis until they cease assaults on Red Sea shipping.

The Houthis, who have seized significant territory in Yemen over the past decade, have launched numerous drone and missile attacks on Red Sea vessels since November 2023, claiming they are targeting ships associated with Israel in support of Palestinians amid the conflict in Gaza.

with Reuters