Yemeni rebel minister: Saudi airstrike on prison killed 70

The strikes stepped up after the Iran-backed rebels claimed an attack that hit the United Arab Emirates earlier this week.Another airstrike in the port city of Hodeida earlier Friday apparently took Yemen entirely off the internet.

The health minister in the rebel government set up by Yemen's Houthi rebels says the airstrike on a rebel-run detention facility in the country's north early on Friday killed at least 70 detainees.

The minister, Taha al-Motawakel, told The Associated Press in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, also held by the rebels, that he expects the number of those killed to rise since many of the wounded are seriously hurt. He says there would be updates on the death toll in the coming hours.

The strike was part of an intensified aerial campaign by the Saudi-led coalition that has waged war on the Iran-backed rebels since 2015. The strikes stepped up after the Iran-backed rebels claimed an attack that hit the United Arab Emirates earlier this week.

Another airstrike in the port city of Hodeida earlier Friday apparently took Yemen entirely off the internet.