US strikes on Yemen's western province of Hodeidah killed at least six people and wounded 16 on Tuesday, the Houthis said, a day after the rebels claimed to have attacked US warships and an Israeli military site.
People living in Houthi-controlled Hodeidah city told The National that a residential area was attacked, resulting in at least two deaths. “There were three consecutive violent hits,” said one resident. “My house is in the south of the city, towards the airport. The windows of the house opened.
“The strikes were intense and one of them hit a house belonging to a friend. All her family members were injured, but no one was killed.”
Another local said the area struck was an upmarket neighbourhood of the coastal city, but parts of it have been deserted for some time and a number of houses have been taken by the Houthis.
“The Houthis have now sealed off the entire area,” the resident added.
"Yesterday was a difficult day — the hardest in a long time. We haven’t experienced strikes like that for a long time. Even the recent Israeli strikes weren’t like this," said a third resident. "My son asked me if it was an earthquake."
Houthi media quoted the rebels accusing US forces of carrying out the strikes. Al Masirah TV channel reported “deaths and wounded in the US enemy's targeting” of Hodeidah's Al Hawak district. It said civil defence teams were fighting fires at the scene and working to rescue any survivors.
Al Masirah also reported a US strike on the communications network in Amran province, north of Sanaa, without providing details.
Rebel-held areas of Yemen have seen near-daily strikes blamed on the US since Washington launched an air campaign against the Houthis on March 15 to force them to stop threatening vessels on key maritime routes.
Since then, the Houthis have also launched attacks on US military ships and Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. On Monday the rebels said they targeted a military site in Israel and attacked two US destroyers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis began attacking ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as Israeli territory, after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. They paused the attacks during a January ceasefire.
Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza at the start of March, and resumed its offensive on the Palestinian territory on March 18, ending the short-lived truce. The new US campaign followed Houthi threats to resume attacks on vessels over Israel's blockade on Gaza.
The Houthi attacks crippled the vital Red Sea route, which normally carries about 12 per cent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to make a much longer detour around the tip of southern Africa.
