Yemen Prison Massacre: Saudi Strikes Kill 60, Injure 100 in Dhamar

By Staff, Agencies

Saudi Arabia committed yet another crime against Yemen, in which its airstrikes on the country’s western Dhamar Province, killed at least 60 people and wounded 100 others.

The al-Masirah TV channel reported on Sunday that warplanes belonging to the Saudi-led coalition had pounded a jail where prisoners of war were being kept.

Head of Yemen’s National Committee for Prisoners Affairs Abdul Qader al-Mortada said that the targeted prison housed over 170 prisoners of war, most of whom were supposed to be part of a local exchange deal.

The Saudi-led coalition claimed in a statement on Sunday that its aerial assaults on Dhamar had targeted a military site belonging to the Ansarullah movement.

It alleged that the Ansarullah fighters had stored drones and air defense systems at the site, and claimed the strikes were “in accordance with international humanitarian law.”

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a deadly war on Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall a former regime and eliminate the Ansarullah, who have been defending the country along with armed forces.

The Western-backed military aggression, coupled with a naval blockade, has destroyed the country’s infrastructure, and led to a massive humanitarian crisis.