Deadly US strike hits Yemeni migrant centre

United States military strikes in Yemen have killed 68 people and wounded 47 as they hit a detention centre holding African migrants, according to Houthi-affiliated media reports.

The strike in the Saada governorate, a Houthi stronghold, is the latest incident during a decade of conflict to kill African migrants from Ethiopia and other nations who risk crossing Yemen for a chance to work in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), responsible for military operations in the Middle East, refused to offer details of the latest strikes but acknowledged carrying out more than 800 hits on targets in Yemen since mid-March. More than 250 people are now reported to have been killed in the campaign.

Graphic footage aired by the Houthis’ Al Masirah TV news channel showed what appeared to be human bodies and injured people at the site. The Houthi-run Ministry of Interior said some 115 migrants had been detained at the site before the strike.

The broadcaster showed footage of bodies stuck under the rubble and of rescuers working to help the casualties.

Each year, tens of thousands of migrants brave the Eastern Route from the Horn of Africa, seeking to escape conflict, natural disasters and poor economic prospects by sailing across the Red Sea towards the oil-rich Gulf region.

Many hope for employment as labourers or domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries, though they face a perilous journey through war-torn Yemen.

The Houthis, who are accused of detaining and abusing the migrants, allegedly earn large sums smuggling them over the border. Those seeking to cross take a significant risk, with the threat of detainment and abuse added to by the long-running conflict.