123 bodies pulled from rubble at Yemen's Dhamar prison

SANAA

Some 123 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a prison bombed in Yemen's southwestern city of Dhamar, medical sources said Tuesday.

Search for more bodies is ongoing, an official in the Houthi-run Health Ministry told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

Houthi rebels on Sunday said nearly 50 people were killed and 100 injured in a strike led by the Saudi-led coalition in Dhamar.

UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths condemned the airstrike and called the incident a "tragedy".

The Saudi-led coalition maintains prisoners holed up by Houthi rebels are used as human shields.

Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when the Iran-aligned Houthi group overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated the following year when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen and supporting the country’s pro-Saudi government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the raging conflict since 2016, according to UN estimates.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara