- The majority of the detainees were Ethiopians.
(BBC)-At least 68 African migrants have been killed in a US air strike on a detention centre in Houthi-controlled north-western Yemen, the armed group’s TV channel says.
Al Masirah reported that another 47 migrants were injured, most of them critically, when the centre in Saada province was bombed. It posted graphic footage showing multiple bodies covered in the rubble of a destroyed building.
There was no immediate comment from the US military.
But it came hours after US Central Command announced that its forces had hit more than 800 targets since President Donald Trump ordered an intensification of the air campaign against the Houthis on 15 March.
The migrant detention centre in Saada was reportedly holding 115 Africans when it was hit four times shortly before 05:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Monday, according to Al Masirah.
The casualty reports could not be immediately verified, but Al Masirah’s videos showed first responders recovering the bodies of at least a dozen men among pieces of concrete and metal debris on the floor of a large building with partially destroyed walls and no roof.
At a local hospital, another injured man told Al Masirah: “The strike hit us while we were sleeping, that’s it.”
Following a visit to the scene, the chairman of the Somali community in Yemen, Ibrahim Cabdulqaadir Macallin, told the BBC: “It was tragic and horrific… I saw burnt people. We couldn’t recognise some of the bodies we saw.”
He said the number of Somali migrants who were killed was “very small” because a group had been removed from the detention centre three days earlier, and that the majority of the detainees were Ethiopians.
He also said that the facility was in an “open area” and “not near any military base”.
The Houthi-run interior ministry condemned what it called the “deliberate bombing” of the facility and said it constituteda “war crime”.
The UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it was “deeply saddened by the reports of the tragic loss of life in Saada”.
“While IOM has not been operating at this facility, we remain committed to closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to offer support as needed,” it added.
“We call on all parties to the conflict to prioritize the protection of civilians and ensure full respect for international laws.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said teams from the Yemen Red Crescent Society provided lifesaving support by evacuating the wounded to hospitals and were ensuring a dignified management of the dead.
