Friday, 21 January 2022 — South Front
Early on January 21, more than 170 people were killed or wounded when Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on a prison in the northern Yemen province of Saada, the heartland of the Houthis (Ansar Allah).
The al-Masirah TV aired horrifying footage showing the aftermath of the coalition’s airstrikes which wiped out the prison, leaving dozens of inmates under the rubble.
Head of the Republican Hospital in Saada, Ismail al-Warfi, said that the airstrikes killed 65 people and wounded 112 others.
“Most of the wounded are in critical condition, and the number of martyrs is likely to rise as many are still under the rubble,” al-Warfi told the Beirut-based al-Mayadeen TV.
Coalition warplanes also targeted the district of Sabeen and the international airport in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa. However, no losses were reported there.
A few hours prior to the airstrikes on Saada and Sanaa, warplanes of the coalition bombarded the Communications Directorate building in the western Yemeni city of al-Hudaydah. Three people were killed and 17 others were wounded as a result of the aerial attack.
The Saudi-led coalition said that its warplanes attacked positions of the Houthis in al-Hudaydah and Sanaa. However, it didn’t comment on the deadly airstrikes on Saada prison.
The Houthis’ spokesman and chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said that the Yemeni people will respond to the coalition’s airstrikes on Saada, Sanaa and al-Hudaydah.
“The massacres of the aggression against the inmates of Saada prison and civilians in al-Hudaydah and Sanaa and the targeting of civilian facilities will not subdue the people or break their will, but will push them to respond in every possible way and with all their right and strength,” Abdulsalam wrote on Twitter.
The Saudi-led coalition intensified its attacks on Houthi-held areas in Yemen following the January 17 missile and drone attack on the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The coalition’s recent deadly airstrikes will likely provoke a fierce response from the Houthis who may attack Saudi Arabia or the UAE in the upcoming few days. This would lead to even more escalation in Yemen.
The New Dark Age 