Central Prison Targeted İn Yemen's Saada: Houthis

Yemen's Shiite Houthi group said that allied Arab forces launching airstrikes against it across Yemen on Sunday targeted the central prison in the northern province of Saada.



"The central prison in Saada was Sunday targeted as part of the aggression launched by Saudi Arabia and its allies," the official Yemeni news agency, which is controlled by the Houthis, reported.



It added that five people were injured in the strike.



The agency said the victims worked as prison guards, noting that the prison compound sustained major damage, which led to the escape of 130 inmates.



Several Arab states have joined a Saudi-led offensive, which kicked off late Wednesday with a string of airstrikes against the positions of the Houthi group in Yemen, including some in capital Sanaa.



Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to calls by Yemeni President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for military intervention to "save the people from the Houthi militias."



Fractious Yemen has been in turmoil since last September, when the Shiite militants overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country as well.



Some Gulf countries accuse Shiite Iran of supporting the Houthi insurgency.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Sana