Yemen's Houthi media says 68 killed in US strikes on migrant centre

Sanaa: Houthi media in Yemen said on Monday that US strikes hit a migrant detention centre in the movement's stronghold of Saada, killing at least 68 people.

The US military has hammered Houthis with near-daily strikes since March 15 in an operation dubbed "Rough Rider", seeking to end their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

On Sunday, the US said it had hit more than 800 targets in Yemen since mid-March, killing hundreds including Houthi leaders.

Hours later, Houthi media said the latest barrage by US forces had hit a migrant detention centre.

"The civil defence has announced that 68 African migrants were killed and 47 others wounded in the US attack targeting a centre for illegal migrants in the city of Saada," the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV said.

AFP could not independently confirm the toll or Al-Masirah's claim that the strikes had hit a migrant centre.

AFP has contacted the US military for comment.

According to a statement cited by Al-Masirah from the Houthi administration's interior ministry, the centre housed "115 migrants, all from Africa".

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 Red Sea route from the Horn of Africa, seeking to escape conflict, natural disasters and poor economic prospects by sailing towards the oil-rich Gulf.

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 UN migration agency, the IOM, said it was closely monitoring the situation following the latest strike but said the facility in question was not managed by their personnel.

"It is imperative that all efforts are made to avoid harm to civilians and to protect those most vulnerable in these challenging circumstances," the agency said in a statement.