‘Committing massacres’: Houthis accuse Saudi of Yemen prison strike that killed 7, including child
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out an air strike on a prison in the northern city of al-Hazm, killing at least seven people, including a child.The strike hit the Central Corrective Facility in al-Jawf province, near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, Houthi-run Health Ministry spokesperson Anees al-Asbahi said. At least seven others, including a woman and child, were wounded. Some sources suggest at least 35 are still trapped under the rubble of the collapsed facility.Houthi-run Al Masirah TV broadcast footage it said showed the aftermath of the strike, including a collapsed building and people searching through the rubble. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the Houthi’s statements yet.Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree spoke to Al Jazeera, accusing Riyadh of “committing massacres” in al-Jawf and said the Houthis had shot down four Saudi reconnaissance drones in the previous 24 hours. He also claimed Houthi forces had used ballistic missiles to target Saudi supply trucks carrying military equipment at a border crossing in Yemen’s Hadramout province.A few hours after the attack on the correctional facility, the Houthis claimed that they attacked several targets in southwestern Saudi Arabia using missiles and drones. According to their media outlet Ansar Allah, the targets attacked include the international airport in the city of Abha, King Khalid Air Base and facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco in the cities of Abha and Jizan.The accusations came as fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government has intensified in recent weeks. Government forces said on Sunday they had made territorial gains in several provinces, including al-Jawf, Bayda, Dahle and Marib.Government-aligned forces have also launched counterattacks in Taiz and Hodeidah after the Houthis began an offensive aimed at gaining control of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in the latest fighting.UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg on Monday called on all sides to halt hostilities and exercise maximum restraint, warning that the escalation could spiral into a full-scale war.
