At least 68 African migrants were killed, and 47 others were injured in US airstrikes on a detention centre in the northern province of Saada early on Monday.n
The fatalities from Monday’s US airstrikes on a detention centre in northern Yemen has risen to 68, with 47 injured, reported the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.
The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, said all the victims are illegal African migrants held in the detention centre in Saada, the capital city of the namesake Saada province, in northern Yemen.
The television said the 68 bodies were recovered from the rubble after civil defence teams put out the fire that resulted from the US airstrikes. The injured were taken to hospitals.
“One of the American missiles that hit the detention centre did not explode. The relevant authorities are handling the object with extreme caution,” the Houthi television said.
“The migrants in this centre are under the supervision of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and targeting this centre constitutes a full-fledged war crime,” the Houthi group said in a statement on the television channel.
“The American administration bears full responsibility for the heinous crime against African immigrants,” the Houthis said.
According to the IOM, Yemen remains a transit country for thousands of migrants travelling between the Horn of Africa and Saudi Arabia despite years of civil war in the country.
Tensions between the Houthi group and the US military have sharply risen since Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen on March 15. The strikes were intended to deter the Houthis from targeting Israel and US ships in the Red and Arabian Seas.
