Yemen’s Houthis say two killed in US strikes

Yemen’s Houthis said on Thursday that two people were killed in overnight air strikes near Sanaa that they blamed on the United States.

The Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV channel reported nearly 20 strikes on Sanaa governorate, both north and south of the capital.

“The American aggression killed two and injured two,” the Houthi-run health ministry’s spokesman Anis al-Asbahi said on social media platform X.

Al-Masirah also reported strikes early Thursday in Saada, the Iran-backed rebels’ northern stronghold which Houthi media had said was hit 17 times the day before.

The United States launched air strikes against the Houthis on March 15, vowing to use overwhelming force until they stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis have since reported frequent US air strikes on areas under their control.

While the United States does not always report these raids, a US defense official said on Sunday that American forces were “conducting strikes across multiple locations of Iran-backed Houthi locations every day and night in Yemen.”

In response, the Houthis have claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on a US aircraft carrier off Yemen’s coast, as well as projectiles fired at Israel.

The Houthis began targeting ships after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians. They paused their campaign when a ceasefire took effect in Gaza in January.