Houthis say US airstrike in Sanaa killed six and wounded 26

A purported US airstrike in the Sanaa province killed six people and wounded 26 others on April 13th, Arab News via AP reported.

“The death toll from the US aggression on the Al-Sawari factory in the Matna area of Bani Matar has risen to 18, including five martyrs and 13 wounded, in a preliminary toll,” the Houthi statement read, according to Middle East Eye on April 13th. The group did not specify whether civilians were among those killed or injured.

The Houthis also reported US strikes in other parts of Yemen, including in Saada and Hodeida provinces.

Yemen has faced strikes from the US since March 15th, when Washington launched a military campaign aimed at pressuring the Houthis to halt attacks on international shipping routes.

The group began targeting vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. They claim their attacks are acts of solidarity with Palestinians under siege.

The Houthis have also targeted US military vessels and have threatened to launch attacks on Israeli ships due to the country’s obstruction of aid entering the Gaza Strip, escalating tensions in a region already strained by multiple conflicts.

The US military campaign comes against a backdrop of concern, surrounding the potential humanitarian impact of further devastation in the country.

Diala Haidar, Amnesty International’s Yemen Researcher, said: “The military escalation in Yemen, along with the US aid cuts, will compound the humanitarian disaster already facing a population still reeling from the long-standing conflict.”

Advocacy groups such as Dawn, Action Corps, and Just Foreign Policy called the US airstrikes “unconstitutional” on March 27th, Middle East Eye reported. They claimed that any act of war needs congressional authorisation under Article 1 of the Constitution and the 1973 War Powers Resolution.

Arab News via AP, Middle East Eye