More than a dozen fishermen were detained and tortured by Saudi-led coalition forces and Yemeni soldiers belonging to the Tihami Elite on the Red Sea island of Hunaish.

About 17 fishermen from the village of Al-Qataba in Al-Khokha district were found on Wednesday morning with signs of torture and beatings, residents in Al-Khokha who are familiar with the situation told Almasdar Online. 

According to the sources, the fishermen were detained and tortured by a group of coalition soldiers and members of a Yemeni brigade known as Tihami Elite, who together control the Hunaish archipelago which lies midway between Eritrea and Yemen. The Tihami Elite, trained in the Eritrean city of Assab by UAE forces, is one of three coalition-backed groups of Yemeni fighters that make up the anti-Houthi Joint Forces.

According to the residents, the fishermen were in the vicinity of the lesser island of Hunaish, when a gunboat carrying a Saudi officer and a group of Elite soldiers took them to prisons on the island at gunpoint, where they were detained and tortured for three days. The fishermen were subjected to beatings, electrocution and had all their belongings confiscated, including an electronic fish finder, the residents said. 

Fishermen in this area have been subject to coalition airstrikes in the past: In 2015 and 2017, dozens of them from Al-Qataba were killed by Apache helicopters belonging to the coalition.