Kochi: US air strikes killed 68 African migrants at a Houthi-controlled detention centre in north-western Yemen, BBC reported.
At least 47 migrants were injured when the centre in Saada province was bombed. The US forces had hit over 800 targets since President Donald Trump ordered an intensification of the air campaign against the Houthis on 15 March.
The strikes had “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and many Houthi leaders” The migrant detention centre in Saada was reportedly holding 115 Africans when it was hit on Sunday night.
Migrants reach Yemen by boat from the Horn of Africa, a majority of whom come in search of livelihood in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
There is a humanitarian crisis in Yemen caused by 11 years of conflict.
In 2024 about 60,900 migrants arrived in Yemen with no means to survive.
The US air strikes on the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea coast killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others a few days back.
Centcom said the attack destroyed the ability of Ras Isa to accept fuel and that it would “begin to impact Houthi ability to not only conduct operations, but also to generate funds for terror activities”.
Threatening to “completely annihilate Houthis”, Trump had warned Iran against arming the group.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden sinking two vessels, seizing a third, and killing four crew members.
The Houthis have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians. Trump redesignated the Houthis as a “Foreign Terrorist Organisation”.
Over the last decade, Yemen has been devastated by a civil war, which escalated when the Houthis seized control of the country’s north-west from the internationally-recognised government.
The fighting has claimed over 150,000 lives and triggered a humanitarian disaster, with 4.8 million people displaced and 19.5 million – half of the population – in need of some form of aid.
US air strikes kill 68 African migrants
