Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia over alleged al-Hazm prison strike
Houthi authorities say seven people died in a strike on a prison in northern Yemen, while Saudi Arabia’s media ministry made no immediate comment.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Houthi authorities say an alleged al-Hazm prison strike in northern Yemen killed seven people, including a child, and wounded at least seven others. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia, but the available reports did not independently establish who carried out the attack, which came as fighting intensified across several Yemeni provinces.
Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said the Central Corrective Facility in al-Hazm, in al-Jawf province, was hit. He said those wounded included a woman, according to Associated Press reporting carried by Killeen Daily Herald and Al Jazeera.
What is known about the al-Hazm prison strike?
The reported casualty figures and the allegation against Saudi Arabia came from Houthi-run institutions and officials. The prison warden told Houthi-run Al-Masirah television that 35 prisoners and a woman visiting her husband were under the rubble; that account had not been independently verified.
Al-Masirah broadcast 46 seconds of footage that it said showed the aftermath. The video showed a damaged, collapsed structure, broken concrete and people moving through debris in what appeared to be a search effort, AP reported. The footage did not identify the party responsible for the reported strike.
Saudi Arabia’s media ministry had made no immediate comment, according to the reports. Al Jazeera also reported that Saudi Arabia had not commented on the Houthi allegations.
Fighting has expanded across Yemen
The accusation emerged as forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government reported gains in al-Jawf, Bayda, Dahle and Marib, according to AP and Al Jazeera. The renewed clashes involve the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government forces.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, AP reported. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict the following year in support of the internationally recognized government.
Prisons have been hit during earlier phases of the war. Al Jazeera and AP reported that a Saudi-led coalition strike on a detention facility in Saada province in 2022 killed at least 87 prisoners and wounded about 266 people. A coalition strike on a Houthi-run facility in Dhamar in 2019 killed more than 100 people and wounded dozens, according to the same reports.
Those earlier incidents provide context for the latest allegation but do not establish responsibility for the reported attack in al-Hazm.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.