At least 68 African migrants have been killed in a US air strike on a detention centre in Houthi-controlled north-western Yemen, the armed group’s TV channel says.
Al Masirah reported that another 47 migrants were injured, most of them critically, when the centre in Saada province was bombed. It posted graphic footage showing multiple bodies covered in the rubble of a destroyed building.
There was no immediate comment from the US military.
But it came hours after US Central Command announced that its forces had hit more than 800 targets since President Donald Trump ordered an intensification of the air campaign against the Houthis on 15 March.
It said the strikes had “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders”, including senior officials overseeing missile and drone programmes.
Houthi-run authorities have said the strikes have killed dozens of civilians, but they have reported few casualties among the group’s members.
The migrant detention centre in Saada was reportedly holding 115 Africans when it was hit on Sunday night.
Despite the humanitarian crisis in Yemen caused by 11 years of conflict, migrants continue to arrive in the country by boat from the Horn of Africa, most of them intending to cross into neighbouring Saudi Arabia to find work.
Instead, they face exploitation, detention, violence, and dangerous journeys through active conflict zones, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In 2024 alone, it says, almost 60,900 migrants arrived in the country, often with no means to survive.
Earlier this month, the Houthi-run government said a series of US air strikes on the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea coast killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others. It said the terminal was a civilian facility and that the strikes constituted a “war crime”.
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 millions of dollars in revenue for their terror activities”.
