US strike on Yemen facility holding migrants kills dozens, Houthis say

Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday alleged a US air strike hit a prison holding African migrants, killing at least 68 people and wounding 47 others. The US military had no immediate comment.

The strike in Yemen’s Saada governorate, a stronghold for the Houthis, was the latest incident in the country’s decadelong war to kill African migrants from Ethiopia and other nations who risk crossing the nation for a chance to work in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

It also likely will renew questions from activists about the American campaign, known as “Operation Rough Rider”, which has been targeting the rebels as the Trump administration negotiates with their main benefactor, Iran, over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

The US military’s Central Command, in a statement early Monday before news of the alleged strike broke, sought to defend its policy of offering no specific details of its extensive air strike campaign. The strikes have drawn controversy in America over Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the unclassified Signal messaging app to post sensitive details about the attacks.

“To preserve operational security, we have intentionally limited disclosing details of our ongoing or future operations,” Central Command said. “We are very deliberate in our operational approach, but will not reveal specifics about what we’ve done or what we will do.”