Rescue workers discovered five more bodies in the rubble of a prison in Saada, Yemen, that was hit by airstrikes from the US-backed Saudi-led coalition on Friday, bringing the death toll to 87, the aid group Doctors Without Border said.
Ahmed Mahat, head of the Doctors Without Borders mission in Yemen, told The Associated Press that rescue workers completed their search of the rubble on Saturday night. He said an additional 256 people were wounded in the strikes. Reports said most of the victims were migrants.
The prison attack was part of a series of Saudi airstrikes that pounded Yemen on Friday. In Hodeidah, Saudi airstrikes pummeled a telecommunications building, knocking out most of the countries internet. As of early Monday in Yemen, the near-total internet blackout continues. The Hodeidah strikes also killed three children while they were playing soccer.
The Saudi bombardment came after the Houthis successfully struck targets inside the UAE, killing three people. The UAE has been part of the Saudi-led coalition that has been bombing and blockading Yemen since 2015. On Sunday night, a Houthi cruise missile landed inside Jazan, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition said the missile “slightly wounded” a foreigner.
Despite President Biden’s promise last February to end support for Riyadh’s “offensive” operations in Yemen, the US is still backing the coalition. The US maintains the Saudi warplanes that are bombing Yemen, and without such support, experts agree that the Saudi air force would quickly be grounded. Biden has also approved over $1 billion in arms sales for Saudi Arabia.