Dubai, United Arab Emirates
AP
–
Yemeni Hooty rebels claimed on Monday that US airstrikes raided African migrants into prisons, killing and wounding some of the 100 prisoners detained there. The US military did not immediately comment.
The strike of Governor Sada of Yemen, the Houtis hub, is the latest incident in the country’s decades’ war, killing African immigrants from Ethiopia and other countries.
It could also update questions from activists about the US campaign known as “Operation Roughriders,” which target rebels, as the Trump administration is negotiating a rapid advancement nuclear programme with Iran, the main benefactors.
The US military central commander asked the central commander of the statement early Monday to defend a policy in which news that the strike had been broken does not provide specific details of its extensive airstrike campaign.
“We intentionally limit disclosure of details of ongoing or future operations to maintain operational security,” Central Command said. “We are very cautious in our operational approach, but we don’t reveal any details about what we did or what we do.”
They did not immediately respond to questions from the Associated Press regarding allegations about a strike at Saada.
Graphic footage aired by the Al-Masirah Satellite News Channel in Houthis showed what appeared to have been corpses and others injured at the scene. Al Masilah’s correspondent said about 100 migrants were in detention at the site.
The victim figures were not immediately clear. However, footage from the site analyzed by the Associated Press suggests that a type of explosion had occurred, with the cement wall appearing to be scattered with debris, and the wounds were exposed to those there.
The soft female voices in the footage can be heard repeatedly at the beginning of the Arabic prayer. “In the name of God.” Occasionally gunshots were heard as doctors tried to help the injured.
Ethiopians and other African immigrants have landed in Yemen for many years, and have given courage to a war-torn country and have tried to reach Saudi Arabia for work. Houthi rebels are said to have made tens of thousands of dollars a week smuggling immigrants across the border.
Immigrants from Ethiopia found themselves detained, abused and even killed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen during the war. On October 3, 2022, a letter from the UN to the Kingdom said that investigators were “received regarding allegations of cross-border artillery fires and allegedly causing up to 430 deaths and wounding 650 migrants.”
Saudi Arabia has denied the murder of migrants.
The suspect on Monday recalls a similar strike by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Hoosis in 2022, killing at least 87 people and injured around 266 people. It was one of the deadliest single attacks in a long-standing war between the Union and Houthi rebels, coming after the Houthis attacked twice within the UAE with missiles and drones, killing three people on a strike near Abu Dhabi’s international airport.
Meanwhile, U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed at least eight people, Houthis said. The US military has allowed more than 800 individual strikes to be carried out in the one-month campaign.
An overnight statement from the US Central Command also said that the “Operation Roughrider” targeting the rebels “had killed hundreds of Hooty fighters and numerous Hooty leaders.” None of those officials were identified.
“Iran has undoubtedly continued to provide support to the Houtis,” the statement said. “Hoouthis can continue to attack our troops with the support of the Iranian regime.”
“We will continue to raise the pressure until our objectives are met, which continues to maintain the restoration of freedom of navigation in the region and American deterrence,” he added.
The US is targeting Houthis for its transport in the Red Sea, important world trade routes, and group attacks on Israel. Houthis is also the last extremist group in Iran’s self-explained “axis of resistance” and can regularly attack Israel.