The rebels, who control large parts of northern Yemen, said the facility was run by the International Organization for Migration and the Red Cross, and described the attack as “a full-fledged war crime.” The U.S. military declined to comment immediately.
Since mid-March, the U.S. has carried out near-daily strikes under an operation dubbed “Rough Rider,” aimed at curbing Houthi missile and drone attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Houthis began targeting Israeli and Western vessels in October 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Graphic footage broadcast on the Houthi-run al-Masirah channel showed smoke and bodies strewn around the lightly constructed compound, echoing a 2022 Saudi-led coalition strike on the same site that a U.N. report said killed 66 detainees. At that time, fleeing prisoners were shot by Houthi guards, the U.N. added.
U.S. Central Command said on Monday it limited public disclosure of ongoing operations “to preserve operational security” and would not divulge specifics about past or future strikes.
More than 750 U.S. strikes have been authorized since the campaign’s escalation. The bulk have been launched from the USS Harry S Truman carrier in the Red Sea, with additional bombing runs by U.S. B-2 bombers from Diego Garcia, the British-leased base in the Indian Ocean.
Houthi leaders claim to have downed seven U.S. Reaper drones in the past six weeks, at an estimated cost of over $200 million to the Pentagon. Analysts warn that without a credible local mediator or a decisive shift in Iranian backing, the group’s cohesion—and the wider conflict—may remain undisturbed.
(jh)
Source: AFP News, The Guardian, Al Jazeera