At least 70 people were killed in an air strike on a prison as Yemen's long-running conflict suffered a dramatic escalation Friday that drew condemnation from UN chief Antonio Guterres.

The Huthi rebels released gruesome video footage showing bodies in the rubble and mangled corpses from the attack, which levelled buildings at the prison in their northern heartland of Saada.

The Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting the rebels since 2015, released a statement on Saturday denying it carried out the strike.

Reports of the targeting of the rebel-held facility are "baseless and unfounded", said coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki, who was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The coalition official said the prison was not placed on a "No Strike List in accordance with the agreed upon mechanism" with the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office in Yemen and had "not been reported by the International Committee of the Red Cross".

Al-Malki said the coalition would share with both agencies "the facts and details, as well as the media misinformation" by the Huthis about the facility.

Further south in the port city of Hodeida, at least three children died when air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition hit a telecommunications facility as they played nearby, Save the Children said. Yemen also suffered a country-wide internet blackout.

"The children were reportedly playing on a nearby football field when missiles struck," Save the Children said.

Eight aid agencies operating in Yemen said in a joint statement they were "horrified by the news that more than 70 people, including migrants, women and children, have been killed... in a blatant disregard for civilian lives".

They said the prison in Saada was used as a holding centre for migrants, who made up many of the casualties.

The strikes came after the Huthis took the seven-year war into a new phase by claiming a drone and missile attack on Abu Dhabi that killed three people on Monday.

They came as the UN Security Council met to discuss that attack at the UAE's request.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement Friday called for "all parties to the conflict to de-escalate" and "abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law" after the Yemen strike and the attack on the Emirati capital.

- 'Proportionate response' -

The United Arab Emirates insisted that it and other coalition members remained committed to "proportionate" responses to Huthi attacks.

"The coalition undertakes to abide by international law and proportionate response in all its military operations," UAE ambassador to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh said.

The Security Council unanimously condemned the "heinous terrorist attacks" by the Yemeni rebels, but in a statement before the meeting the council's Norwegian presidency also strongly condemned the latest violence.

In a later statement, the UN said Guterres "reminds all parties that attacks directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited by international humanitarian law."

Aid workers said hospitals in Saada were overwhelmed after the prison attack, with one receiving 70 dead and 138 wounded, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Two other hospitals have received "many wounded" and as night fell, the rubble was still being searched, the aid agency said.

- 'Horrific act' -

Ahmed Mahat, Doctors Without Borders' head of mission in Yemen, said: "There are many bodies still at the scene of the air strike, many missing people."

"It is impossible to know how many people have been killed. It seems to have been a horrific act of violence."

The coalition claimed the attack in Hodeida, a lifeline port for the shattered country, but did not say it had carried out any strikes on Saada.

Global internet watchdog NetBlocks reported a "nation-scale collapse of internet connectivity".

AFP correspondents in Hodeida and Sanaa confirmed the outage.

Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Huthis descended from their base in Saada to overrun the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks after the UAE-backed Giants Brigade drove the rebels out of Shabwa province, undermining their months-long campaign to take the key city of Marib further north.

On January 3, the Huthis hijacked a United Arab Emirates-flagged ship in the Red Sea.

And on Monday, they claimed a long-range attack that struck oil facilities and the airport in Abu Dhabi, killing two Indians and a Pakistani, and wounding six other people.

The attack was the first deadly assault acknowledged by the UAE inside its borders and claimed by the Huthis.

In retaliation, the coalition carried out air strikes against rebel-held Sanaa that killed 14 people.

Yemen's civil war has been a catastrophe for millions of its citizens who have fled their homes, with many close to famine in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Timeline: Yemen's grinding seven-year war
Dubai (AFP) Jan 21, 2022 - After at least 70 people were killed in an air strike on a prison in Yemen on Friday, here is a look at the impoverished country's seven-year war.

The war pits Iran-supported rebels against Yemen government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

The conflict has left about 377,000 dead, according to the UN, either directly in the fighting or as victims of famine, sickness and a lack of clean drinking water.

- 2014: Huthis take capital -

Huthi rebels from the Zaidi Shiite minority in northern Yemen seize the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

Backed by Shiite heavyweight Iran, they ally themselves with military units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been forced to step down after a 2011 uprising.

They also take swathes of territory including the vital Red Sea port of Hodeida.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi flees in February 2015 to second city Aden on Yemen's south coast.

- 2015: Saudis step in -

A coalition led by Iran's bitter enemy Saudi Arabia that includes the United Arab Emirates enters the conflict in March 2015 with air strikes on the rebels.

Washington says it is contributing logistics and intelligence.

As the rebels advance on Aden, Hadi flees to Saudi Arabia.

The coalition's intervention helps pro-government forces secure Aden, and in October they announce having retaken control of the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world's most strategic waterways.

- 2018: Battle for key port -

In June 2018, government fighters, backed by Saudi and Emirati ground forces, launch an offensive to retake Hodeida, a key entry point for humanitarian aid.

UN-brokered talks between the warring parties open in December, with a ceasefire declared in Hodeida.

But in mid-January 2021, clashes break out between rebels and pro-government soldiers in the south of the city.

- Separatists flex muscles -

The anti-Huthi camp is divided.

South Yemen was an independent state before unifying with the north in 1990, and southern separatists frequently clash with unionists loyal to Hadi's government.

The separatists occupy the presidential palace in Aden in January 2018, before Saudi and Emirati forces intervene.

In August 2019, separatists in Aden from the UAE-trained Security Belt force clash again with unionist troops.

Riyadh has since negotiated a power-sharing agreement and the formation of a new government.

- 2019: Saudi oil hit -

The rebels escalate their attacks on Saudi Arabia, using drones and missiles.

A major hit on September 14, 2019 on Abqaiq processing plant and Khurais oilfield halves the kingdom's crude output.

Riyadh and Washington accuse Iran of being behind the attack, which it denies.

- 2021: New escalation -

On February 8, 2021, the Huthis resume an offensive to seize oil-rich Marib province, the government's last northern stronghold.

The upsurge comes shortly after Washington ends its support for coalition military operations and removes the Huthis from a "terrorist" blacklist.

Fighting intensifies over the following months.

- 2022: Rebels turn on UAE -

On January 3, 2022, the rebels seize an Emirati-flagged vessel in the Red Sea, which the coalition says is carrying medical supplies.

The rebels say it was "a military cargo ship with military equipment".

A week later, pro-government forces with UAE backing claim to have retaken Shabwa province in a blow to rebel efforts to overrun neighbouring Marib.

On January 17, a rebel drone and missile attack on an oil facility in Abu Dhabi, kills two Indians and a Pakistani worker, the first deaths inside the UAE from the Yemen conflict.

The Saudi-led coalition kills 14 people in retaliatory air strikes on Sanaa.

- Deadly strike on prison -

On January 21, at least 70 people die and more than 100 are wounded in an air strike on a prison in northern Yemen.

At least three children die in a separate bombardment of Hodeida, aid group Save the Children says.

Related Links
Space War News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Russia risks 'quagmire' in Ukraine: UK
Sydney (AFP) Jan 21, 2022
Russia risks becoming embroiled in a "terrible quagmire" if it invades Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is to warn Friday in a speech in Sydney. The UK's top diplomat will tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is on the brink of making a strategic blunder by launching military action and "has not learned the lessons of history." According to prepared remarks to the Lowy Institute, Truss will urge Putin to "desist and step back from Ukraine before he makes a massive strategic ... read more