At least one elderly man was killed and three women and a child were injured during the attacks on the village of Al-Masaqara in eastern Dhamar governorate on Thursday. 

Houthis fighters besieged the village Wednesday with the aim of abducting one of its elders, according to tribal sources from Al-Hada district, where Al-Masaqara is located. The blockade was followed by indiscriminate machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades, before the Houthis raided the village on Thursday, detaining 146 civilians including children, who have been taken to Al-Marada’a prison in Al-Hada district, according to the tribal sources and the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights. 

About the same number of prisoners and abductees were killed in a Houthi prison in neighboring Dhamar City in early September, when the Saudi-led coaltion bombed the community college holding the detainees.

Since the siege began Wednesday, Houthis have set up dozens of checkpoints at key entry and exit points in the area surrounding Al-Masaqara to block tribes that might intervene on behalf of the village, the tribal sources said.