SAADA, Yemen: The Saudi-led coalition yesterday denied carrying out an air strike on a prison in Yemen’s rebel-held north that aid groups said killed at least 70 people. Claims the military coalition ordered the raid, which reduced buildings to rubble and left rescuers scrabbling for survivors with their bare hands, were “groundless”, the alliance said.

The attack, which coincided with a coalition strike on the Yemeni port of Hodeida that killed three children and knocked out the impoverished country’s Internet, was condemned by the United Nations secretary-general. But “these claims adopted by the militia are baseless and unfounded”, said coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Malki, referring to the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents.

The latest violence in Yemen’s intractable, seven-year war came after the Iran-backed Houthis on Monday claimed their first deadly attack on Abu Dhabi, capital of coalition partner the United Arab Emirates. The Houthis took the war into a new phase by claiming the drone and missile attack that killed three people, the first deadly assault the UAE has acknowledged inside its borders and prompting threats of reprisals.

The Internet blackout, which went into its second day yesterday according to web monitor NetBlocks, complicated rescue work and media reporting as information slowed to a trickle. Unverified footage released by the Houthis revealed gruesome scenes at the bombed-out prison facility, as rescue workers scrabbled to dig out bodies and mangled corpses were placed in piles.

Eight aid agencies operating in Yemen said in a joint statement that the prison in Saada, the rebels’ home base, was used as a holding center for migrants, who made up many of the casualties. They said they were “horrified by the news that more than 70 people, including migrants, women and children, have been killed... in a blatant disregard for civilian lives”. Hospitals were overwhelmed as hundreds of casualties flooded in, aid workers said. “It is impossible to know how many people have been killed. It seems to have been a horrific act of violence,” said Ahmed Mahat, Doctors Without Borders’ head of mission in Yemen.

Meeting on Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously condemned the “heinous terrorist attacks” on Abu Dhabi, but the council’s Norwegian presidency also denounced the strikes on Yemen. In a later statement, the UN chief Antonio Guterres “reminds all parties that attacks directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited by international humanitarian law”. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for “all parties to the conflict to de-escalate” and “abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law”.

Iran yesterday also condemned recent air strikes on Houthi-held areas, warning they have “made the path to achieve a just peace in the country even more difficult,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said. Saudi Arabia accuses regional rival Iran of providing military support to the Houthis, especially missiles and rockets, claims that Tehran denies. Khatibzadeh said there was a lack of “serious determination to advance the political settlement of the Yemeni crisis”, warning it would lead to the “destruction of the country and instability in the region.”

The Houthis have warned foreign companies to leave the “unsafe” UAE, a veiled threat of revenge attacks after Friday’s strikes. “We advise the foreign companies in Emirates to leave because they invest in an unsafe country and the rulers of this country continue in their aggression against Yemen,” warned Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree. – AFP