Cairo: Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Saturday that the US military launched a series of airstrikes on the capital, Sanaa, and the Houthi-held coastal city of Hodeida, less than two days after a US strike wrecked a Red Sea port and killed more than 70 people.
The Houthis’ media office said 13 US airstrikes hit an airport and a port in Hodeida, on the Red Sea. The office also reported US strikes in the capital, Sanaa. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The US military’s Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said it continues to conduct strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
Thursday’s strike hit the port of Ras Isa, also in Hodeida province, killing 74 people and wounding 171 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. It was the deadliest strike in the US ongoing bombing campaign on the Iranian-backed rebels.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday said he was “gravely concerned” about the attack on Ras Isa, as well as the Houthis missile and drone attacks on Israel and the shipping routes, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Saturday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged respect for international humanitarian law and protection of civilians after US strikes in Yemen’s Hodeida. The US Central Command said the attack was not intended to harm Yemenis but declined comment on civilian casualties. The strikes are part of a month-long campaign in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel. Houthi officials report around 200 deaths since the campaign began on March 16.