**Amnesty International Calls for Investigation into US Airstrike on Yemeni Prison That Killed Over 60 African Migrants**

*Dubai* — An American airstrike in April targeting a prison run by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that killed more than 60 detained African migrants should be investigated as a possible war crime, activists said Wednesday.

The call by Amnesty International renews scrutiny on the April 28 strike in Yemen’s Saada province. The attack was part of an intense campaign of airstrikes conducted under former U.S. President Donald Trump, targeting Houthi rebels for disrupting shipping through the Red Sea corridor amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The U.S. military’s Central Command has yet to provide an explanation for the strike on the prison, which had previously been hit by a Saudi-led coalition also fighting against the Houthis. The facility was known to hold detained African migrants attempting to reach Saudi Arabia through the war-torn region.

“We take all reports of civilian harm seriously and are working to release the assessment results for Operation Rough Rider soon,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Central Command.

### Dozens Killed in the Strike

Following the attack, the Houthis displayed debris likely from two 250-pound precision-guided GBU-39 small-diameter bombs used by the U.S. military, Amnesty International reported. Survivors interviewed by Amnesty — all Ethiopian migrants detained while trying to reach Saudi Arabia — said there were no Houthi fighters posted inside the building.

Amnesty assessed the strike as an “indiscriminate attack,” noting that there was no clear military objective. Under international law, striking sites such as hospitals and prisons is prohibited unless they are being used to plan attacks or store weapons, and even then, every precaution must be taken to avoid civilian casualties.

The Houthis recently revised their death toll from the strike to 61, down from an initial report of 68. Gunfire could be heard in footage taken after the airstrikes, with the Houthis stating that their guards fired warning shots around the time of the attack.

### History of Violence at the Prison Compound

The April strike brought to mind a similar attack by the Saudi-led coalition in 2022 on the same prison compound, which resulted in a collapse killing 66 detainees and injuring 113 others, according to a later United Nations report. After that attack, the Houthis reportedly shot dead 16 detainees who tried to escape and wounded another 50.

While the Houthis have denied any wrongdoing related to the April strike, Amnesty highlighted how the rebels’ ongoing crackdown on activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and humanitarian workers has limited efforts to investigate the situation thoroughly. The Houthis currently hold at least 59 United Nations staffers and numerous aid workers, having recently seized electronics from U.N. offices.

The Iranian-backed rebels, facing economic pressure, have also escalated threats against Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.

### Concerns Raised by Amnesty International

Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, expressed disbelief that the U.S. would carry out an airstrike on the same compound, resulting in high civilian casualties.

“I didn’t actually believe that it was possible that the U.S. would carry out an airstrike on the same compound, resulting in a significant level of civilian harm,” Beckerle said. “It kind of defies belief that the U.S. would not have known.”

### U.S. Airstrike Campaign and Civilian Casualties

The U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis began under President Joe Biden in response to rebel attacks on shipping but escalated sharply under Trump’s Operation Rough Rider, which targeted around 1,000 sites across Yemen. These strikes focused on power stations, mobile phone infrastructure, and military targets.

However, activists have reported civilian casualties, particularly in an April strike on an oil depot that killed more than 70 people.

Airwars, a U.K.-based organization that monitors casualties in aerial warfare, estimates that Operation Rough Rider’s strikes caused at least 224 civilian deaths during the campaign — nearly as many as the total civilian casualties over more than 20 years of U.S. strikes in Yemen.

U.S. Army Gen. Michael Kurilla, former commander of CENTCOM, committed during congressional testimony in June to publicly releasing details on civilian casualties in Yemen, but this information has yet to be shared.

### The Human Cost

“One of the things that was relatively devastating is again you’re talking about people who left Ethiopia to travel to Yemen because they’re trying to get to the Gulf” to earn money for their families back home, Beckerle said. “They have to have their family send money to them in Yemen to deal with the effects of the injury.”

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*This development raises serious questions about the conduct of air operations in Yemen and the protection of civilians caught in the conflict. Amnesty International’s call for a thorough and independent investigation highlights the urgent need for accountability and transparency.*
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/world/2025/10/29/amnesty-says-us-strike-on-a-yemen-prison-that-killed-dozens-of-african-migrants-may-be-a-war-crime/