RIYADH:

Newswatch

Saudi forces have set 81 Africans free from the grip of Iranbacked Yemeni Houthi militias at the liberated Al-Thabit Market in Qataber in Yemen’s Saada Province, according to a Saudi-led coalition source.

The freed Africans, including 20 women and two children, were used by Houthi militias in human trafficking operations in Saada, the unnamed source was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying.

Houthi militias had kept them in an Al-Thabet Market hole and forced them to fight, dig trenches and transfer weapons, the source added.

The liberated Africans were taken to a shelter where they received immediate medical treatment as they had suffered so much due to famine and inhumane detention conditions. (KUNA)