Yemen’s Houthis Say Five Killed in US Strike on Sanaa Province

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Sunday that a US strike in Sanaa province had killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others.

“The death toll from the US aggression on the Al-Sawari factory in the Matna area of Bani Matar has risen to 18, including five martyrs and 13 wounded, in a preliminary toll,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

Houthi media also reported that US strikes targeted various other areas in the country Sunday, including in the Saada and Hodeida provinces.

The rebels added that US strikes targeted various other areas in the country on Sunday, including in the Saada and Hodeida provinces.

Rebel-held areas of Yemen have seen near-daily strikes blamed on the United States since Washington launched an air campaign against the Houthis on March 15 to force them to stop threatening vessels in key maritime routes.

Since then, the Houthis have also launched attacks targeting US military ships and Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The rebels began targeting ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as Israeli territory, after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, pausing the attacks during a January ceasefire.

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza at the start of March, and resumed its offensive on the Palestinian territory on March 18, ending the short-lived truce.

The new US campaign followed Houthi threats to resume attacks on vessels over Israel’s blockade on Gaza.

The Houthi attacks had crippled the vital Red Sea route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to make a much longer detour around the tip of southern Africa.