CAIRO — Houthi rebels in Yemen have accused Saudi Arabia of conducting an airstrike on a prison in northern Yemen on Monday, resulting in the deaths of seven individuals, including a child. This incident marks a significant escalation in tensions between the Iran-backed Houthi group and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces, highlighting the ongoing conflict in the region.
Houthi Health Ministry Reports Casualties from Strike in Hazm
A strike on the Central Corrective Facility in Hazm, a strategic city in Jawf province, has resulted in at least seven injuries, including a woman. This information was confirmed by Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry.
Yemen plunged into civil war in 2014 when the Houthis descended from their northern stronghold and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee southward, then into exile in Saudi Arabia. Saree said later Monday that Houthi forces downed a total of four reconnaissance drones belonging to Saudi Arabia over the past 24 hours, including one that was spotted Monday morning in Bayda province. In 2022, a strike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a detention facility in the northern province of Saada, killing at least 87 prisoners and wounding about 266 others. 2019 hit a Houthi-run detention facility in southwestern Dhamar province, killing over 100 people and wounding dozens. The civil war in Yemen has killed at least 150,000 people, according to U.N. estimates, and at times pushed the country to the brink of famine. A ceasefire that had mostly held since 2022 is now in tatters.
“The ongoing Saudi aggression against Yemen will not go unanswered or unpunished,” he said. A Saudi-led coalition entered the Yemen war the following year in an attempt to restore the government. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia’s media ministry. The Houthi claim came as forces of the internationally recognized government advanced across multiple fronts in Yemen, including in Jawf, Bayda, Dahle, and Marib provinces. Another strike in Sep.
