A new human drama in the war in Yemen. At least 70 people were killed and 138 injured on Friday, January 21, in an airstrike against a prison in Saada, a Houthi rebel stronghold, in the north of the country, according to the NGO Doctors Without Borders..
This assessment concerns only one hospital in Saada, “two other establishments having received numerous injuries”. “Research continues in the rubble”, added the NGO. It was not immediately possible to know who the detainees were, nor how many there were. But eight NGOs, including Action Against Hunger, Oxfam and Save the Children, assured in a joint statement that migrants would be among the dead. saying to themselves “horrifiées”, these NGOs denounced a “blatant indifference” for the lives of civilians.
The attack was not claimed but the Houthis accused the military coalition under Saudi command in working since 2015 in Yemen, who controls the airspace. Earlier, the coalition claimed responsibility for a raid on the western city of Hodeida which claimed the lives of three children.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned in a statement “Saudi-led coalition airstrikes against a detention center in Saada”. “Other airstrikes have been reported elsewhere in Yemen, also with deaths and injuries among civilians, including children”, he also denounced, claiming “quick, efficient and transparent investigations” on these events to hold their perpetrators to account.
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.