Yemen Air-attack Death Toll Continues to Climb

At least 86 people are now known to have been killed in a Sunday air strike by the Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The attack, which the coalition said targeted a weapons depot in the southwestern city of Dhamar, hit a building used by the Houthis as a detention center, mostly for captive government troops. According to Yemen’s Red Crescent organization, many victims are still believed to be buried by the rubble. The International Committee for the Red Cross says about 40 people were wounded, and the head of its mission in Yemen was quoted as saying it would be “a safe presumption… that over 100 had been killed.” The structure was said to be housing some 170 detainees at the time of the air strike. The coalition plunged Yemen into war in 2015 when it began attacking the Houthis after the Shi’ite rebels pushed the pro-Saudi government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. The fighting has blocked major ports of entry, leading to starvation and mass health issues.