US strikes reported across Yemen, w
The United States launched air raids across Yemen overnight, killing at least one person and injuring 13 in the capital, Sanaa, media reports say.
The strike on Monday was the latest in Washington’s renewed military offensive against the Houthis, which started earlier this month when the Iran-aligned group said they planned to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping due to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
“A citizen was killed and 13 others were injured, including three children, in the final toll of the US aggression on a residential building in [Sanaa’s] Aser area,” said the Houthi-run Health Ministry spokesperson, Anees Alasbahi, in a statement.
Footage released by the Houthis showed the rubble of a collapsed building and pools of blood staining the ground.
The Houthis also reported air raids on sites around the city of Saada, the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, and Marib province, home to oil and gas fields under the control of allies to Yemen’s exiled central government.
Several social media accounts on Monday made unverified claims that the Houthis had attacked US naval vessels.
The US launched its campaign of aerial bombardment against the Yemeni group on March 15, citing its targeting last year of vessels in key shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and pledging their support for Hamas during the war with Israel.
The Houthis paused their attacks as a ceasefire was enacted in the enclave in January. However, as the truce fell apart, the Yemeni group threatened to resume its campaign.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said on Sunday that the Houthi threat is forcing 75 percent of US-flagged shipping to take the far-longer route around the southern coast of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal.
The Houthis have also claimed attacks targeting Israel in recent days. The Israeli military claimed on Sunday to have successfully intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the group.
US air raids have killed at least 79 people and injured more than 100 in Yemen since last Thursday, according to the Houthis.
‘Every day and night’
The US has offered few specifics on the sites it is striking during its campaign, and has not yet confirmed any air raids on Sanaa.
A defence official told the AFP news agency: “CENTCOM [US Central Command] is conducting strikes across multiple locations of Iran-backed Houthi locations every day and night in Yemen.”
Waltz said the recent US attacks have “taken out key Houthi leadership”, including the head of their missile programme.
“We’ve hit their headquarters,” Waltz said. “We’ve hit communications nodes, weapons factories and even some of their over-the-water drone production facilities.”
The Houthis have dismissed the US claims that it is targeting military sites in Yemen as a “complete lie and slander”.
The Houthi government in Yemen said: “The pictures, scenes, evidence, types of victims, and testimonies of survivors from the targeted sites confirm that it is targeting residential neighbourhoods and innocent civilians, and provide conclusive evidence that the US is deliberately taking the lives of defenceless civilians and destroying the capabilities of our people.”
The Houthis also said the latest US attacks will not deter them from supporting Palestinians in Gaza and that the country will also support Lebanon and Hezbollah, if necessary.