Sana’a : According to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders), the death toll from an airstrike on a prison in Yemen’s Saada province has surpassed 80.
“A Saudi-led coalition airstrike on Yemen‘s Sa’ada City Remand Prison killed at least 82 people and injured 266 people early yesterday,” MSF said on Saturday, citing health ministry data.
As search and rescue efforts continue, the death toll could rise, according to the aid organization.
Despite the coalition’s claims that reports of the prison’s destruction are “baseless,” MSF said that its staff has confirmed that the prison has been destroyed.
The Houthi rebels claimed on Friday that the coalition airstrike on the prison in Saada province killed and injured dozens of people. MSF initially reported 70 deaths and more than 130 people injured.
For more than six years, Yemen has been engulfed in an internal conflict between government forces and the Houthi movement. The Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of the government has been conducting air, land, and sea operations against the rebels since 2015. The Houthis frequently retaliate on Saudi territory by firing projectiles and bomber drones. Yemen is currently experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about ongoing airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday, urging all parties involved in the conflict to exercise maximum restraint.