Death toll of coalition bombing of Yemen prison rises to 70

The number of bodies recovered from the rubble of the Dhamar prison in northern Yemen, which is being used as a detention facility by the Houthi militias, rose to more than 70, amid expectations that the death toll would rise still further.

The Ministry of Health of the Houthi movement announced that “more than 70 bodies have been recovered so far from the prison headquarters, which was bombed by the coalition in Dhamar.”

The spokesman for the Houthi’s Ministry of Health, Yousef Al-Hadri, indicated that “the process of recovering corpses is still ongoing so far” while expecting the number to rise further.

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He pointed out that dozens of wounded civilians were evacuated and taken to Al-Thawra Hospital, and most of them are seriously injured.

The coalition aircrafts launched about eight airstrikes on the community college, taken by the Houthis as a prison, in which dozens anti-Houthis prisoners are detained.

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For its part, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed concern about what happened, saying in a brief statement: “We are worried by the information we received about the bombing taking place in Dhamar prison, Yemen, which we have been regularly inspecting.”

The prison was known to the Coalition, and the ICRC as the humanitarian organisation has visited it several times.

On Sunday morning, the coalition leadership admitted targeting “a military site which belongs to the Houthi militias in Dhamar”, noting that it was “a storehouse for drones and air defence missiles.”

The coalition added that the attack was “consistent with international humanitarian law and its customary rules and that all preventive measures have been taken to protect civilians.”