A security source denied the authenticity of the news circulated by the media of the US-Saudi-led coalition about the armed clashes inside the central prison in the province of Hodeidah.
A security source said in a statement to “YemenExtra” that a small fire broke out inside a dormitory in the central prison in the province of Hodeidah, causing a state of anxiety among inmates.
The source added that a group the arrested prisoners , on the backdrop of communication with the coalition and the dispatch of coordinates, tried to use the fire in a prison cell, and they incited the inmates to cause chaos and riot.
The source said that the security services intervened on time and managed to contain the situation after dealing with those involved in the attempt to cause chaos and riot inside the prison, stressing that the situation is stable and there is no tension, as promoted by the media of the coalition.
Hodeidah is a strategic port city which should be supporting more than 20 million Yemenis. It should be the source of at least 70 percent of all imports to Yemen,” Suze van Meegen, a protection and advocacy adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council, told AFP. The US-Saudi-led coalition has been eager to retake from Yemeni joint forces control, according to Yemeni officials.. But the former UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheik, warned against attacking the port city over potential catastrophic consequences to Yemen last year. Martin Griffiths, the new special envoy to Yemen, echoed the same concern over attacking Hodeidah at the UN Security Council .
