US air strikes on Yemen 'a source of terror' for civilians

Yemeni citizens struggle to stay calm in the face of Washington's bombing campaign to 'annihilate' the Houthi rebels

An area of Sanaa, Yemen's capital city, is littered with debris in the aftermath of a US air strike. Reuters

Aerial attacks by US warplanes are a “source of terror”, Yemeni civilians have told The National, as Washington's bombing campaign against the Houthis continues across the war-torn country in an attempt to “annihilate” the rebel group.

At least one person was killed as the US struck areas around Yemen’s rebel-held capital overnight into Monday, the Houthis said. Civilians in Sanaa said the wave of attacks has caused fear of a new phase of war and instability for the country, as the Eid Al Fitr holiday got under way.

Manal, 44, a schoolteacher in Sanaa, said she is waiting for the worst to come. The mother of six described the difficulty of celebrating the end of Ramadan in a state of fear of conflict. To distract her children from the sound of air strikes, she invented a game for them to guess the number as they are launched.

"I’m very scared but trying to remain calm for my children especially on Eid," she said. "I was trying to distract them by playing a game of who guesses the number of strikes."

The US attacks on the rebels complicate the already challenging process of reaching a political agreement to end more than decade of civil war in Yemen, officials and experts told The National. Monday's strikes near the capital injured four others, the Houthi rebels said. Footage was broadcast on the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah news channel of broken glass littering homes after a bomb blast.

Yemenis visit a cemetery to pray at the graves of relatives after morning Eid Al Fitr prayers, in Sanaa. AFP

"I hope there are not many civilian casualties, the situation is very frightening and I don’t know what is happening," Abdullah, 36, a health worker living in the capital, told The National. “Whenever we hear the sounds of the air strikes, we are terrified. This time round it was close to civilian infrastructure and it is very different than before."

Many fear the dire security and humanitarian situation will be worsened by the renewed escalation, particularly after US President Donald Trump warned the Iran-backed group that "hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen". Abdullah said he was concerned the strikes would compound Yemenis' suffering, increase food insecurity and lead to further economic struggles.

For years, the UN has been pushing for a political solution to end the conflict that has killed more than 230,000 people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The latest US strikes, which began in mid-March, and the designation of the Iran-backed rebels as a terrorist group by Washington, killed more than 50 people on the first night of attack. Since then, the Houthis have reported of one to four deaths and several injuries each day.

Washington's campaign came in response to the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, triggered after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. But Yemenis have been grappling with civil war since 2014 when the rebels captured Sanaa.

"The recent attacks, like others, are not much different for civilians," Safaa, 24, a homemaker living in Sanaa, told The National. "They are a source of terror and suffering, from the sound of aircraft to the damage to those close to the bombed areas.

"The bombings are a source of terror for us," she said, adding that she was considering fleeing the country, although options are limited – and dangerous.

The US has been taking aim at military installations and equipment, in attempts to drain Houthi resources, but the group has consistently demonstrated its ability to adapt and recover during the past decade of the civil war. Civilian casualties will also support the Houthi narrative that they are waging war against the US and Israel, experts have told The National.