Houthi rebels say 12 killed in US air strikes on Yemen’s capital
The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of attacks targeting the rebels.
US air strikes targeting Yemen’s capital have killed 12 people and injured 30 others, the Houthi rebels said early on Monday.
The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of attacks targeting the rebels.
The US military’s Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign.
The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighbourhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district, an area that has been targeted by the Americans before.
Footage aired by the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers being taken to hospital.
Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including Yemen’s Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates.
The attack came after US air strikes hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen last week, killing at least 74 people and injuring 171 others.
The strikes follow the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the US and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel.
The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.
The new US operation against the Houthis under President Donald Trump appears more extensive than attacks on the group were under Joe Biden, an Associated Press review found.
The new campaign started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors.
That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees one trillion dollars worth of goods move through it.
The Houthis have also launched attacks targeting American warships but without success.
Assessing the toll of the month-old US air strike campaign has been difficult because the military has not released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed.
The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and do not publish complete information on the strikes, many of which are likely to have targeted military and security sites.
