The US military launched a series of airstrikes across Yemen on Sunday, killing at least 12 people in the capital city and targeting sites in four other provinces, according to local media reports. The operations came on the heels of another round of strikes that left several dead just one day prior.
American warplanes attacked a number of areas around Sanaa on Sunday, including a sanitation facility and a marketplace, the Houthi-linked Al Masirah TV reported, also noting strikes on Kamaran Island off the coast of Hodeidah, as well as in Marib, Sa’dah and Mawit Governorates.
The Yemeni Health Ministry said at least 12 civilians were killed and 30 others injured in the capital, but added that the number could still rise as emergency workers continued to dig victims from rubble. The ministry offered no details about casualties for the other locations.
Footage that was alleged to show the marketplace attack and its aftermath has circulated online, with an incoming projectile seen seconds before it detonates near the ground. Another brief clip was purported to show first responders and panicked bystanders after the strike on Farwa market.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the Pentagon ordered more than a dozen airstrikes on Hodeidah’s port and airport, as well as areas around Sanaa Governorate, reportedly killing at least two people.
US strikes on Yemen have significantly escalated in recent weeks, as Washington says it intends to stop Houthi attacks on cargo vessels transiting the Red Sea. The group has seized or attacked scores of ships since late 2023 in protest of the war in Gaza, with many of the vessels linked to Israel or Israeli businessmen.
On Thursday, the US military carried out one of its deadliest operations in Yemen yet, killing at least 80 people and injuring 150 more during strikes on the Ras Isa fuel port in Hodeidah. At least five of the victims were paramedics killed in a second ‘double-tap’ bombing, after first responders had arrived to help the wounded.
US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said that mission aimed to “degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis,” claiming it was not at war with the “Yemeni people” despite the large number of civilian deaths. The Pentagon has yet to comment on the more recent strikes over the weekend.
In a statement issued on Saturday, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely concerned” about the intensified airstrikes – citing the attack on Ras Isa – and “deeply troubled about the risk of further escalation in the region.”
More than 200 people have been killed in the US bombing campaign since March, when the Donald Trump administration announced a major new offensive against the Houthis. The UN’s refugee agency has warned that such strikes would have an outsized impact on civilians, as nearly 15% of the population remains internally displaced and more than 5 million Yemenis are “acutely food insecure.” The country was brought to the brink of famine several times during the Saudi-led, US-backed war between 2015 and 2022, which left hundreds of thousands dead from violence and deprivation.
This article was originally featured at Antiwar.com and is republished with permission.
