At least 70 people were killed and around 100 wounded in an airstrike on Friday against a rebel-held prison in Yemen, an attack attributed to the Saudi-led coalition and showing a sharp escalation in violence.
Saudi Arabia leads the coalition made up of Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, which supports Yemeni government forces in the face of Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
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 Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which denounced a “horrible” attack.
Research in the rubble
“Searching continues in the rubble,” added 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 the dead would include migrants.
Saying they were “horrified”, they denounced a “flagrant indifference” for the lives of civilians.
Saada’s attack was not claimed, but the Houthis blamed the coalition, which controls Yemen’s airspace.
UN chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile condemned “the strikes by the Saudi-led coalition against a detention center in Saada”, which he said had “leaved at least 60 dead and more than 100 injured”. He also denounced the strikes in Hodeïda and called for “effective investigations”.
On Twitter, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “deeply shocked” by the strikes on “populated areas”. “The cost in human lives is unacceptable. »
A 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 as a “hub of piracy and organized crime”.
After the raid, the Internet was cut in the country.
In Saudi Arabia, the air 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). The Emirates have warned that they will retaliate.
Without clearly saying who is behind the attack on the prison, the Emirates’ ambassador to the UN, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, claimed that the military coalition had “a proportionate response in all its military operations”.
Multiple burrs
She was speaking after a meeting of the UN Security Council, which condemned “in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attacks perpetrated in Abu Dhabi”.
During the conflict in Yemen, the military coalition was accused of multiple “blunders” against civilians. She acknowledged “mistakes”, but accuses the Houthi rebels of using civilians as human shields.