Saudi airstrike on Yemeni town — At least 25 people, including women and children, were killed in a Saudi airstrike on a town east of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, according to media outlets operated by the Houthi movement. The reported attack on al-Shariyah marks another deadly incident in a conflict that had been largely dormant for years before erupting again.
The Saudi-led coalition, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government, has not commented on the allegation.
Rescue efforts and casualty reports
Al Masirah, a television channel run by the Houthis, broadcast live footage showing rescue workers recovering bodies from the debris of multiple collapsed buildings in al-Shariyah. The images included the remains of young children. The station also showed injured people being transported on stretchers to a hospital.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency attributed the strike to Saudi Arabia. The reports could not be independently verified.
Background to renewed fighting
Saudi Arabia has led a coalition fighting the Houthis for more than ten years in support of the Yemeni government. The conflict had been inactive for several years but reignited in connection with the Iran war.
A truce began to unravel after Saudi Arabia bombed Sanaa airport, which is under Houthi control, to stop an Iranian plane from landing. The Houthis, who are backed by Tehran, then struck Abha airport in Saudi Arabia and began targeting Saudi ships using the Red Sea off Yemen’s coast as an alternative oil export route to the Strait of Hormuz.
Major combat has since resumed between the Houthis and forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
Earlier violence in Taiz
On Friday, an attack on a market in Taiz province reportedly killed 30 people. The province has been a focus of much of the recent fighting. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for the strike, while government forces accused the Houthis of firing a missile at the site.
The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and over 300,000 displaced since the fighting resumed.
Missile interception and vows of retaliation
Hours before the strike on al-Shariyah, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a missile headed toward Riyadh. A Houthi leader, Mahdi al-Mashat, has promised that the group will take revenge for the latest attacks in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has regularly bombed Houthi positions, while the Houthis have fired multiple missiles at targets inside Saudi Arabia, including airports and oil facilities.
