According to the International Red Cross, a Saudi-led coalition strike on a detention center run by Houhis rebels left more than 100 people dead in Yemen. The humanitarian aid agency claimed to be striving to provide "urgent medical help" to the victims.
The coalition has been working in Yemen since 2015 to support pro-government forces against rebels who have captured large areas of western and northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
On Sunday, it announced that it had conducted air raids against a "military position where drones and missiles are stored" in the city of Dhamar (in the west of the country), according to a statement relayed by the Saudi television channel. al-Ekhbariya.
At the head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Yemen, Franz Rauchenstein said since Dhamar that "more than 100 people were killed" in this strike.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 52 prisoners were killed in the strike, 68 are missing and the balance is likely to increase.
Victims under the rubble
ICRC medical teams quickly went to the scene with body bags. It is a "university building that has been emptied and used as a detention center," said Franz Rauchenstein.
"Hitting such a building is shocking and sad, prisoners are protected by international law," he said. According to him, at least 40 wounded were hospitalized in Dhamar hospitals.
"As we speak, the [IARC] teams are working tirelessly to find survivors under the rubble," he said, adding that the chances of survival were "very low" .
War crimes
Claiming to have taken all "the necessary precautionary measures to protect civilians", the coalition has ensured that it targeted "a legitimate military target" on Sunday.
According to the coalition, explosions after the strike show that the target building was used to store weapons: "The Houthis were lying, therefore, saying it was a secret prison."
The latter, on their Al-Massirah television channel, assured them that "dozens of people had been killed or wounded" in seven strikes on a building serving as a prison.
"The enemy deliberately targeted prisoners in Dhamar, many of whom were preparing to be released as part of a prisoner exchange," rebel leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi said in a televised address.
Martin Griffiths, UN envoy to Yemen, said "hope the coalition will launch an investigation," adding in a statement that "today's tragedy reminds us that Yemen can not wait."
The conflict in Yemen has left tens of thousands dead since 2014, including many civilians, according to NGOs. It has plunged this country - the poorest of the Arabian Peninsula - into the worst humanitarian crisis in the world according to the UN.
Houthis like Saudi Arabia and its allies are accused of violations that could be considered war crimes.
In 2017, the United Nations placed the coalition on its blacklist of countries and entities that committed abuses against children in conflicts.
New front
These strikes come as a new front opened in the war in Yemen.
For several weeks, the coalition has been shaken by internal fighting in the south between Yemeni-based southern separatists, supported by the United Arab Emirates, and pro-government forces, supported by Riyadh.
In early August, the separatists took control of the city of Aden, which became the "provisional capital" of the government after the Houthis captured Sanaa. Government which accused the United Arab Emirates of having supported a "coup".
Analysts say the clashes in the south are a test for Riyadh, who is hoping for a ceasefire, to focus on the war against the rebels, backed by his Iranian rival.
With AFP