Houthis say Saudi strike near Sanaa killed 22, mostly women and children
Iran-backed terror group declares ‘Saudi warplane massacre’ on town of al-Shariya; Saudi Arabia doesn’t comment on strike, says it intercepted Houthi ballistic missile near Riyadh
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Houthi media said on Saturday that Saudi strikes killed at least 22 people, including women and children, in Yemen’s Sanaa province, just hours after the Iran-backed terror group reportedly targeted Saudi Arabia with a cruise missile.
The Houthis and the Saudis have exchanged daily attacks since a years-long truce fell apart over the summer, reigniting a deadly war that devastated Yemen a decade ago. The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed in the impoverished country.
According to a spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry, airstrikes in al-Shariya, a town near the Yemeni capital, killed 22 people and wounded 30 others, mostly women and children.
The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out the strikes in the village, which the terror group’s Saba news agency described as a “Saudi enemy warplane massacre.”
The Houthi-run outlet said operations to recover victims from the rubble were ongoing and that “aircraft targeted paramedics with two strikes.”
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
Hours earlier, the Saudi-led military coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi cruise missile heading toward Riyadh.
The exchange of fire came a day after an attack on a market in Taiz province killed 30 people. The Houthis said Saudi airstrikes were to blame, while Yemen’s government forces accused the Iran-backed group of having fired a ballistic missile at the site.
In July, a fragile 2022 truce fell apart after the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane to land in Yemen’s capital Sanaa in defiance of Saudi control over Yemeni airspace, setting off a spate of attacks.
Later, the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships, territory and oil facilities, before seizing Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast in a lightning campaign.
The Houthis have since ramped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, including by launching deadly strikes on the Riyadh airport that forced its shuttering for two weeks.
The Houthis have, in turn, reported frequent Saudi airstrikes.
The Times of Israel Community.