Warning: Graphic photo below
Saudi airstrikes that hit Yemen on Monday night into Tuesday killed at least 17 people, including civilians and detainees at a prison, according to Ansar Allah officials and reports in Yemeni media.
Abdul Qader al-Murtada, the head of the Yemeni National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, said that on Monday night, Saudi strikes hit a prison in the northern al-Jawf province, killing nine detainees who he said were captured in “recent events.” He later released the names of the nine prisoners and said they were affiliated with Saudi-backed forces that have been fighting against Ansar Allah on the ground.
Early Tuesday, Yemeni media reported that Saudi strikes hit a house in the Red Sea port city of Mocha, recently captured by Ansar Allah, killing at least six people, including one woman and two children. Six other people, including a woman and a child, were injured in the attack. Footage from Yemen’s Al Masirah TV shows the aftermath of the attack and what appear to be two very young children who were killed in the attack.
Yemeni media also reported that a separate attack in al-Jawf hit a civilian home, killing a woman and a child, and injuring other family members, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.
Saudi Arabia was notorious for hitting civilians in its bombing campaign in Yemen from 2015 to 2022, and the number of civilian casualties in the current war is rising. The Saudi airstrikes are supported by the US, which has up to 200 military advisors in Saudi Arabia providing intelligence and targeting support.
Yahya Saree, spokesman for the Ansar Allah-led Yemeni Armed Forces, said that Saudi Arabia launched 19 airstrikes over the previous 24-hour period.
“Over the past 24 hours, Saudi warplanes launched 19 airstrikes using F-15 and Typhoon aircraft, taking off from Khamis Mushait and Taif airbases. These strikes targeted the governorates of Taiz, Al-Jawf, and Ma’rib, resulting in martyrs and wounded, including children and women,” Saree said.
The Guardian reported that up to 169 people, including fighters and civilians, have been killed in Yemen over the past three days due to strikes and fighting on the ground. Ansar Allah continues to make advances on the ground in southwest Yemen following its lightning offensive that involved capturing the rest of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
