The Saudi-led Arab Coalition will meet on Tuesday with the UN and Red Cross to examine Houthi claims that it targeted a detention center in the Yemeni province of Saada with air strikes.
The Coalition clarified that it had officially invited both the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit it.
It also reaffirmed its commitment to the principles of international humanitarian law and its customary rules in military operations.
Earlier, Coalition spokesperson Brigadier General Turki al-Malki had confirmed that no prison was targeted in Saada and pointed out that the allegations spread by Houthis were misleading and aimed to chiefly garner the sympathy of UN organizations and international NGOs.
“The Coalition will inform the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the facts and details,” said al-Malki.
There are four reported locations identified as prisons in the Joint Forces Command’s No Strike List (NSL) in Saada city. These are being used by the “terrorist Houthi militia,” to launch cross-border attacks to target civilians and civilian installations, SPA reported.
“The closest prison is located 1.8 kilometers away from the alleged location,” clarified al-Malki in the statement, adding that the reports shared by the Iran-backed Houthis are part of a “blatant attempt to mislead the public opinion regarding the true nature of the location in an attempt to garner sympathy from UN organizations and INGOs.”
An investigation launched by the Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) on the alleged targeted prison strike by the Coalition has revealed the location to be a “Special Security Camp in Saada, which is a legitimate military target.”
