On September 2, Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen std multiple airstrikes on a detention center operated by Houthi rebels in southwestern province of Dhamar, killing at least 100 people and wounding dozens more on Sunday, officials and rebels’ health ministry said. Franz Rauchenstein, he of Red Cross delegation in Yemen, suggested that death toll could be higher after visiting site of attack, saying relatively few detainees survived. A Red Cross statement said detention center held around 170 detainees. It said 40 of those were being treated for injuries and rest were presumed de. attack was deliest so far this year by coalition, according to Yemen Data Project, a database tracking war.

Deliest attack by coalition

“Witnessing this massive dam, seeing bodies lying among rubble, was a real shock. Anger and sness were natural reactions,” Rauchenstein said. attack was deliest so far this year by coalition, according to Yemen Data Project, a database tracking war. coalition has faced international criticism for airstrikes that have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties, killing thousands of Yemeni civilians.

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Saudi Arabia intervened on behalf of internationally recognized Yemini government in March 2015, after Iran-backed Houthis took capital. conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, thrust millions to brink of famine and spawned world’s worst humanitarian crisis. attack comes as Saudi-led coalition’s partners — chiefly United Arab Emirates and an array of Yemeni militias — are increasingly at odds over war’s aims. past weeks have seen heavy fighting in Yemen’s south between Saudi-backed and Emirati-backed forces.

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Strikes targeted a college 

Yemeni officials said Sunday’s strikes targeted a college in city of Dhamar, which Houthi rebels were using as a detention center. coalition denied it h struck a detention center, saying it h targeted a military site used by rebels to restore drones and missiles.

“We were sleeping and around midnight, re were maybe three, or four, or six strikes. y were targeting jail, I really don’t kw strike numbers," wounded detainee Nazem Saleh said while on a stretcher in a local hospital. He said Red Cross h visited center two times before airstrike. A line of over a dozen white body bags was laid out in rubble beside flattened buildings and crushed cars, while rescue workers dug through debris.

“We have seen w under ruble that re are still many, many de bodies that it's very, very difficult to extract,” said Rauchenstein.

52 detainees among de

U.N. human rights office for Yemen said 52 detainees were among de, and at least 68 detainees were still missing. Red Cross, which inspects detention centers as part of its global mission, said it h visited detainees at site in past. Former detainees said Houthis h previously used site to store and repair weapons. Youssef al-Hhri, a spokesman for Houthi-run Health Ministry, said at least seven airstrikes hit three buildings in complex overnight. rebels’ Health Ministry said in a statement that more than 60 people were killed in Sunday’s airstrikes and ar 50 wounded. Later in day, health officials said death toll climbed to 65. officials spoke on condition of anymity because y were t authorized to brief media. Saudi-led coalition said it h hit a military facility “in accordance with international humanitarian law,” and that “all precautionary measures were taken to protect civilians.”

Col. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for coalition, was quoted by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV as denying target was a prison. Local residents said family members arrested for being critical of Houthis were imprisoned in detention center. y said at least seven airstrikes hit area. Omat al-Salam al-Haj, a mor of a detainee, said center housed anti-Houthi political detainees who were rounded up over suspicions of cooperating with coalition. Former detainee Mansour al-Zelai said Houthis were restoring weapons in and close to detention center.

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Houthis using sites as detention centers

Houthi rebels have been using scores of sites as detention centers, including schools, mosques, and houses, filling m with thousands of political detainees to use later in prisoner-swap deals. Associated Press documented that many of se sites were rife with torture and abuses including Dhamar’s community college. Former detainees recalled torture and abuses inside detention center, which came under a series of airstrikes before. Rights groups have also previously documented that Houthis place civilian detainees in detention centers as human shields by placing m next to army barracks, under constant threat of airstrikes. In October 2016, an airstrike by Saudi-led coalition hit a prison complex in Red Sea port of Hodeida, killing at least 58 people, mostly prisoners. At time, coalition said prison complex was used as a command center for Houthis.

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On Sunday, Sweden’s foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, met with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safi in Amman to discuss her efforts to relaunch negotiations after years of stalemate between Yemen’s warring sides. “Yemen has been at center of my attention,” she said in a statement.

Wallstrom also met with Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed and or government officials in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyh, according to official Yemeni news ncy SABA. Airstrikes have also punctuated infighting between erstwhile coalition allies in sourn Yemen. On Thursday, Emirati jets bombed convoys of Saudi-backed government forces, killing scores in series of airstrikes to prevent m from retaking interim capital, en, from militias backed by UAE. Emirati strikes sparked popular anger in Yemen against UAE. Activists launched an online petition collecting signatures to “kick Emiratis out of Yemen” and members of Yemeni government issued a statement demanding president end UAE’s role in Yemen. On Sunday, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash posted a reminder on Twitter that coalition’s goal is to “confront challenge of Houthi coup.”
 

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