Saudi coalition to meet UN and Red Cross to discuss Saada attack

Strikes on December 21 hit 'special security camp', coalition says

William David Grisley, UN resident co-ordinator for humanitarian affairs in Yemen, visits with a delegation a site reported to be a prison destroyed in a Saudi-led air strike in the Houthi stronghold Show more

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen will meet the United Nations and Red Cross on Tuesday to examine reports it targeted a detention centre in the Yemeni province of Saada with deadly air strikes.

The coalition said on Monday it would discuss with William David Grisley, UN resident co-ordinator for humanitarian affairs in Yemen, the allegations made by the Iran-backed rebels regarding the reported strikes in Saada, which the Houthis claimed struck a detention centre but the coalition contends was a “special security camp”.

The strikes on January 21 targeted a location in Saada the coalition identified as a “special security camp” that it called "a legitimate military target in nature”. The site, according to the coalition, was also not on a no-target list agreed with UN agencies.

“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will present all facts and detailed information regarding the Houthi militia’s claim that the coalition targeted a prison in Saada city to the Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT), OCHA Yemen and ICRC,” coalition spokesman Brig Gen Turki Al Malki said.

According to Brig Gen Al Malki, the closest prison is located 1.8 kilometres away from the alleged area targeted in the strike on January 21.

The Saada strike came as the coalition intensified air raids on Houthi military targets after the rebel group escalated cross-border missile and drone attacks, normally focused on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Yemen’s conflict began in 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis took Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government to flee to the south, then into exile in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition, backed at the time by the US, entered the war months later to try and restore the government to power.