More than 1,000 prisoners, including al-Qaida suspects, escaped from a jail during clashes between the Shiite Houthi group and pro-government fighters in Yemen’s southern province of Taiz on Tuesday night, local officials and witnesses said.
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It is not clear how the prisoners escaped.
However, another official told the Reuters news agency that the inmates had fled amid heavy clashes between warring militias.
Officials sought to blame the Yemeni military forces loyal to ex- President Saleh for the prison break in Taiz, saying that amid heavy fighting and as the AQAP forces approached, they “opened the prison doors” and withdrew from the area. But three months of air strikes have yet to push back the group.
Another group of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison in the eastern city of Mukalla in April after army forces suddenly quit the city.
According to the BBC, this makes the third such prison break since late March, when a Saudi-led coalition began conducting airstrikes against the Houthis in order to restore deposed President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
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United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien warned of a “looming humanitarian catastrophe”, with at least 11.7 million people affected by the conflict. Millions of families no longer have access to clean water, proper sanitation or basic health care.
