Houthis say strikes, aimed at underground facilities and missile launchers, killed 16 civilians
Joint UK-US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 others, the rebels have said, the highest publicly acknowledged death toll from strikes carried out in response to their attacks on shipping.
Three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the strikes on Thursday as hitting a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. They called it a response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war.
The US FA-18 fighter jets involved in the strikes were launched from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other US warships in the region also participated.
The Houthis focused on Friday morning on just one of the strikes, which they said hit a building housing Hodeida Radio and civilian homes in the port city on the Red Sea. The Al-Masirah satellite news channel aired images of one bloodied man being carried down stairs and others in the hospital receiving aid.
