At least 30 killed in US attack on Yemen detention centre: Report
We’ve been reporting on a US attack on a detention centre holding African migrants in the northern province of Saada.
The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV says the prison housed 115 inmates and that at least 30 people were killed in the attack. Another 50 were wounded and have been transferred to hospital for treatment. Most of their injuries are critical.
Yemen’s official Saba agency, citing a security source, says there are dozens of victims and that rescue teams have been putting out a fire caused by the bombing.
There was no immediate comment from the US military.
The US Central Command issued a statement before news of the strike broke, seeking to defend its policy of offering no specific details of its extensive bombing campaign.
“To preserve operational security, we have intentionally limited disclosing details of our ongoing or future operations,” CENTCOM said. “We are very deliberate in our operational approach, but will not reveal specifics about what we’ve done or what we will do.”
Footage shows human bodies at Yemen detention centre
The graphic footage, aired by Al Masirah TV and verified by Al Jazeera, shows several human bodies lying in the rubble of the bombed-out detention centre for African migrants in Saada.
Other footage showed wounded people receiving treatment at the General Republican Hospital in Saada. The hospital said in a post on Telegram that dozens of people were killed and that at least 50 wounded people had arrived at the facility.
Death toll rises in US attack on Yemeni detention centre: Report
The number of people who have been killed in this detention centre for African migrants in Saada has risen to 68, and 47 others have been injured, according to the Houthi-affiliated news outlets.
A rescue operation in Saada has been going on since 6am. The rescue teams have transferred the first 55 people to the hospital who were injured, and we have witnessed some deaths among them, so the death toll could increase further.
So far, we have witnessed a spike in US air strikes in different areas across Yemen.
Last night, US jets bombed different areas, in particular Sanaa and Saada. In Sanaa, three houses were attacked, according to Houthi media outlets, and so far, eight people have been killed, among them children and women.
Rescue efforts in Yemen hampered by ‘all-out destruction’
This is the second bloodiest attack by the US forces since they began their offensive.
Saada, where this detention centre is located, is a stronghold of the Ansar Allah [Houthis]. It’s in the north of the country and has been hit hard over the past one and a half months.
The rescue teams are facing difficulties in transferring people from the site of the attack because of what they describe as the all-out destruction of that facility.
The African migrants are using Saada as a step towards what they say is a better life in the Gulf states.
Houthi spokesperson slams US attack on Yemen as ‘brutal crime’
The Houthi spokesman has condemned the US attack on the detention centre housing African immigrants.
Mohammed Abdul Salam wrote on X that the US “brutality” would “not cover up the military failure it is suffering in its aggression against Yemen, and continuing the aggression will not bring it any achievement”.
He added that the international community’s silence on the air strikes “encourages” Washington to continue its attacks on residential areas, “misleading” the world to believe these are “military targets”.
“Washington’s resort to such claims does not make them a reality. Rather, the real reality is that Washington deliberately and premeditatedly intends to commit crimes and terrorism,” he said.
