US strikes hit targets in Yemeni capital, Houthi-run TV reports

CAIRO: The United States struck targets in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Wednesday, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported, the latest in a wave of strikes carried out in retaliation for attacks by the Iran-aligned group on shipping in the Red Sea.

Three residents told Reuters that the strikes had hit the Al-Jarraf district of Sanaa, close to the city’s airport.

The strikes also hit an under-construction occasions hall in a residential neighborhood in Al-Thawra directorate in Sanaa, injuring nine people, mostly women and children, Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry said in a post on X.

Al Masirah said the strikes also targeted Al-Suwaidia directorate in Yemen’s al-Bayda province in southern Yemen.

The province is known to have military sites and weapons warehouses owned by the Houthis.

The US began the current wave of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen last Saturday, killing at least 31 people in the biggest such operation since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.

Trump also threatened to hold Iran accountable for any future Houthi attacks, warning of severe consequences. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Houthis were independent and took their own strategic and operational decisions.

Unfazed by the US strikes and threats, the Houthis have said they will escalate their attacks, including on Israel, in response to the US campaign.

On Tuesday, the Houthis said they had fired a ballistic missile towards Israel and would expand their range of targets in that country in coming days in retaliation for renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza after weeks of relative calm.

The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.

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The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.

The Houthis are part of what has been called the “Axis of Resistance” - an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.