Sanaa, Nov 15 (IANS) Yemen’s Houthi group announced Sunday the unilateral release of 600 conflict-related detainees in the capital, Sanaa, with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as a government military source said at least 17 people were killed or wounded when a Houthi missile struck vehicles carrying families fleeing fierce fighting in the southern province of Lahj.
The government military source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the strike hit the coastal area of Khor Umairah, about 90 km west of Aden, adding that the exact death toll remained unclear.
A Houthi military source, also speaking anonymously, said the group targeted gatherings of Saudi-backed government troops after their withdrawal from positions near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
“Our targets were military gatherings, not displaced families,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the Houthis’ prisoner affairs committee, described the release as the largest unilateral release since the conflict began, adding that the group had previously freed 2,612 detainees through similar initiatives, Xinhua News Agency reported.
“We do not approach this issue with a spirit of revenge, but as a humanitarian matter,” al-Murtada said at a press conference broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, emphasizing efforts to ease the suffering of detainees and their families.
The ICRC confirmed the release in a statement on social media platform X, saying its delegates had conducted “private interviews with each detainee” and supported their “dignified return home.”
It stressed that it had played no role in determining who would be released or how many would be released.
Al-Murtada said the Houthis remained prepared to implement the latest prisoner exchange agreement despite renewed hostilities, insisting that humanitarian negotiations should remain separate from military operations.
He blamed the opposing side and the suspension of UN-mediated consultations for the stalled agreement.
There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s internationally recognised government on the release or the accusations.
The release and the strike come amid intensified fighting across several Yemeni fronts between Houthi fighters and government forces supported by the Saudi-led coalition, alongside continued coalition airstrikes and Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting oil facilities and military installations deep inside Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting Saudi-led military intervention in 2015 in support of the government.
–IANS
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