Latest US strikes bring the death toll in Yemen since mid-March to more than 220 people.
United States military strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, have killed at least eight people and wounded several others, Houthi-affiliated media report, as the US acknowledged carrying out more than 800 attacks on targets in Yemen since mid-March, bringing the total of those killed to more than 220 people.
The Al Masirah TV satellite news channel reported early on Monday that eight people were killed in a US strike targeting the Bani al-Harith district north of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
The US also struck Yemen’s Amran and Saada governorates on Sunday night, Houthi officials said, and two people were reported killed in an earlier attack on Sanaa.
“Eight martyrs, including children and women,” the channel reported after the attack that targeted the Thaqban area in Bani al-Harith.
A later report by the station claimed that dozens were reported killed in the US bombing of Saada, where a detention centre was struck.
The latest US bombing raids raise the death toll from US strikes on Yemen to 228 people, according to a tally of Houthi announcements on casualties.
The US military said on Sunday that since March 15, it had struck more than 800 targets in Yemen and killed hundreds of rebel fighters.
“These strikes have killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders,” the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement. CENTCOM also said the attacks on Yemen would continue and details of US strikes would not be revealed to the public.
“To preserve operational security, we have intentionally limited disclosing details of our ongoing or future operations,” CENTCOM said.
“We are very deliberate in our operational approach, but will not reveal specifics about what we’ve done or what we will do,” it added.
The US has not commented on civilian casualties from its intense bombing of Yemen, which began on March 15 and has involved almost daily attacks.
US forces say they are targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and on Israel. The Houthis say they launched their attacks on Red Sea shipping linked to Israel in retaliation against Israel’s war on Gaza.
On April 18, a US strike on Yemen’s Ras Isa fuel port killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others in the deadliest-known attack to date by the US on Yemen.
The increase in US attacks also comes as President Donald Trump intensifies efforts to pressure Iran – the main supporter of the Houthis – into agreeing to a new deal on its nuclear capabilities.
The US is conducting strikes from its two aircraft carriers in the region – the USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea and the USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea.
Houthi forces, nevertheless, continue to launch missiles at Israel and US vessels in the Red Sea, as well as US military drones.
