A Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a prison run by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Friday, killing at least 70 detainees and wounding dozens, a rebel minister said. The strike was part of a pounding aerial offensive that hours earlier knocked the Arab world’s poorest country off the internet.
The intense campaign comes after the Iran-backed Houthis claimed a drone and missile attack that struck inside the United Arab Emirates’ capital earlier in the week — a major escalation in the conflict in Yemen where the Saudi-led coalition, backed by the UAE, has battled the rebels since 2015.
The Saudi-led coalition acknowledged carrying out “accurate airstrikes to destroy the capabilities of the militia” around Hodeida’s port. It didn’t immediately confirm striking a telecommunications target, but instead called Hodeida a hub for piracy and Iranian arms smuggling to back the Houthis.
