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At least 80 captives were killed and 100 others were injured when Saudi warplanes pounded the prison they were being held inside the central Yemen city of Dhamar, the Houthis Health Ministry announced on September 1.
Saudi-led coalition warplanes targeted the prison and the nearby Community College in the early hours of the morning. The coalition claimed that the Houthis were storing attack drones and anti-aircraft missiles in the target sites.
Chairman of the National Committee for Prisoners, Abdul Qader al-Mortada, revealed that all the captives were Saudi-backed fighters who were captured by the Houthis. Al-Mortada claimed that at least half of the captives were set to be freed soon as a part of an exchange deal.
“The targeted prisoners were fighting on the fronts of Shabwah, Taiz, Dali’, the frontlines along the border [with Saudi Arabia] and other fronts,” al-Mortada told al-Masirah TV.
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that the prison was well-known and that its team in Yemen visit it on a regular basis.
Mohammad Abd al-Salam, head of the Houthis’ National Delegation, condemned the massacre saying that Saudi-led coalition is “sending a message to all Yemeni people that their blood is cheap no matter on what side they are.”
The Saudi-led coalition and its main backer, the U.S, are yet to comment on the Dhamar massacre. The coalition claimed earlier that its airstrikes were carried out “in accordance with the international humanitarian law.
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