(AFP) – Huthi rebel-controlled media in Yemen said Monday that US strikes hit a migrant detention centre in the movement’s stronghold of Saada, killing at least 68 people. The US military has hammered the Iran-backed Huthis with near-daily strikes since March 15 in an operation dubbed “Rough Rider,” seeking to end their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Huthis began launching strikes targeting Israeli and Western vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as solidarity with the Palestinians, shortly after Hamas conducted the worst-ever attack on Israel in October 2023.
On Sunday, the US said it had hit more than 800 targets in Yemen since mid-March, killing hundreds, including Huthi leaders. Hours later, Huthi media reported that the latest barrage by US forces had struck a migrant detention centre. “The civil defence has announced that 68 African migrants were killed and 47 others wounded in the US attack targeting a centre for illegal migrants in the city of Saada,” the Huthis’ Al-Masirah TV stated. AFP could not independently confirm the toll or Al-Masirah’s claim that the strikes had hit a migrant centre. AFP has contacted the US military for comment.
According to a statement cited by Al-Masirah from the Huthi administration’s interior ministry, the centre housed “115 migrants, all from Africa.” The broadcaster showed footage of bodies trapped under the rubble and rescuers working to help the casualties. Each year, tens of thousands of migrants brave the Red Sea route from the Horn of Africa, seeking to escape conflict, natural disasters, and poor economic prospects by sailing towards the oil-rich Gulf. Many hope for employment as labourers or domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries, though they face a perilous journey through war-torn Yemen.
The UN migration agency, the IOM, said it was closely monitoring the situation following the latest strike but noted that the facility in question was not managed by their personnel. “It is imperative that all efforts are made to avoid harm to civilians and to protect those most vulnerable in these challenging circumstances,” the agency said in a statement.
The Huthi attacks since late 2023 have forced many shipping companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa, instead of passing through the Suez Canal—a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of global trade. In a statement that provided its most detailed accounting of the operation so far, the US military command responsible for the Middle East said it had “struck over 800 targets” in Yemen, killing “hundreds of Huthi fighters and numerous Huthi leaders.” “The strikes have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defence systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, and advanced weapons storage locations,” CENTCOM noted.
Despite the strikes, the Huthis, who control large swaths of the country, have continued to claim attacks against both US vessels and Israel. In a statement on Monday, the Huthis said they had responded to the latest “attacks and massacres against civilians” by targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier with “several cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones.” The rebels also claimed their latest “military operation” against Israel—the third in as many days—saying they had sent a drone towards “the occupied region of Ashkelon,” on Israel’s southern coast.
Iran, which supports the Huthis, condemned the US strikes on Monday, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei calling the attacks “on civilian targets, vital infrastructure, and people’s homes in various parts of Yemen… a war crime.” The United States first began conducting strikes against the Huthis under former president Joe Biden’s administration, but these operations have intensified under his successor, Donald Trump. CENTCOM stated that “our operations have degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks” which are only possible “with the backing of the Iranian regime.” “We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region,” it added.
© 2024 AFP
