Houthi authorities say Saudi airstrikes killed 33 near Sanaa. Saudi Arabia says it intercepted missiles fired toward Riyadh.
Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry said Saudi airstrikes killed at least 33 people and wounded 39 on Saturday in a village east of the capital, Sanaa. Ministry spokesperson Anis al-Asbahi said the dead included 12 men, eight women and 13 children. The strikes hit homes in al-Shariya village in the Bani Hushaysh district, a Houthi stronghold, according to the ministry. Saudi Arabia’s Center for International Communication said it was investigating the report. The toll could not be independently verified.
The Houthis said they carried out six missile and drone operations Saturday against targets in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, including Saudi oil facilities and Riyadh’s airport. The group described them as retaliation. Early Sunday, loud booms were heard in Riyadh after a civil defense alert. Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles aimed at the capital. He also said a ballistic missile aimed at the Eastern Province was destroyed. Authorities later said the danger had passed.
Fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis resumed in July and has shattered a 2022 United Nations-brokered truce. Since then, the Houthis have targeted Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities, while Riyadh has carried out airstrikes in Yemen. Reuters described the fighting as a front in the wider Middle East war that followed U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran in February.
This report draws on Reuters, Deutsche Welle, ABC News and The National.