YEMEN (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an attack on a detention center in Yemen killed at least 70 people and injured more than 130 others on Friday, as the Saudi-led coalition ramped up its deadly assault on rebels in the war-torn country.
According to NetBlocks, a nonprofit that records network outages, another airstrike targeted a telecommunications complex in the vital port city of Hodeidah early Friday, producing a countrywide internet blackout. According to Save the Children, at least 3 children died in the attack.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the digital blackout, which was still in effect as of Friday evening, will have an impact on relief distribution.
The Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran and govern much of Yemen, immediately blamed the strikes on the Saudi-led coalition. The coalition has been contacted by CNN for comment.
After the Houthis overthrew Yemen’s internationally recognized government in 2015, a coalition headed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched an attack to restore it. Following a Houthi projectile and military drone attack in the UAE capital city, Abu Dhabi earlier this week, the coalition has increased its attacks.
In the aftermath of Friday’s detention facility bombing in the northern Yemeni city of Sa’ada, the Houthi-run television source Al Masirah broadcast graphic video of individuals trapped under rubble. The Red Cross said it had dispatched medical emergency supplies to 2 hospitals that had received “very high” casualties.
According to Mahat, a hospital supported by the MSF in Sa’ada has been overloaded by a surge of wounded individuals and is unable to accept any more. According to MSF, two additional hospitals in the area have also seen a substantial number of casualties.
Due to the internet outage, international help organizations have struggled to acquire information about the strike, according to various humanitarian workers.
The Saudi-led coalition made no statement on the airstrikes on the telecom building or the detention center but announced on Friday that it had attacked Hodeidah’s port, destroying one of the [Houthis’] dens of maritime hijacking and organized crime.
According to Saudi state-owned SPA, the coalition also claimed to have hit military sites in Sanaa on Friday, alleging to have done so in reaction to a threat of hostile assaults.
Image via BBC
