Yemen’s Houthi rebels allege U.S. airstrike hit a prison holding African migrants

DUBAI — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday alleged a U.S. airstrike hit a prison holding African migrants. The U.S. military had no immediate comment.

The strike happened in Yemen’s Saada governorate, a stronghold for the Houthis. Graphic video aired by their Al-Masirah satellite news channel showed what appeared to be bodies of the dead and others wounded from an explosion at the site.

Casualty figures weren’t immediately clear.

The U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press.

The alleged attack comes amid an intensified airstrike campaign by the Trump administration targeting the rebels as it tries to negotiate with their main benefactor, Iran, over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Ethiopians and other African migrants for years have landed in Yemen, braving the war-torn nation to try to reach Saudi Arabia for work. The Houthi rebels allegedly make tens of thousands of dollars a week smuggling migrants over the border.

Migrants from Ethiopia have found themselves detained, abused and even killed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen during the war. An Oct. 3, 2022, letter to Saudi Arabia from the U.N. said its investigators “received concerning allegations of cross-border artillery shelling and small arms fire allegedly by Saudi security forces causing the deaths of up to 430 and injuring 650 migrants.”

Saudi Arabia has denied killing migrants.

Overnight, U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killed at least eight people, the Houthis said, as the American military acknowledged carrying out more than 800 strikes in its weeks-long campaign.

A statement from the U.S. military’s Central Command said its bombing campaign — dubbed Operation Roughrider — targeting the rebels had “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,” including those associated with the militants’ missile and drone program. It did not identify any of those officials.

The U.S. said it would continue to carry out its airstrikes, which began March 15.

“Iran undoubtedly continues to provide support to the Houthis,” the statement said. “The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime.”

It added: “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.”

The U.S. is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis also are the last militant group in Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.

Gambrell writes for the Associated Press.