Suspected US strikes in Yemen kill at least 8 people, Houthi rebels say
[April 09, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Suspected U.S. airstrikes pounded the
area around Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeida on Tuesday night,
killing at least eight people, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said.
The strikes hit around Hodeida's al-Hawak district, the rebels said, and
wounded 16 people. The area is home to the city's airport, which the
rebels have used in the past to target shipping in the Red Sea.
Since its start, the intense campaign of U.S. airstrikes targeting the
rebels over their attacks on shipping in Mideast waters — related to the
Israel-Hamas war — has killed at least 81 people, according to casualty
figures released by the Houthis.
Footage aired by the rebels' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed
chaotic scenes of people carrying wounded to waiting ambulances and
rescuers searching by the light of their mobile phones. The target
appeared in the footage to be a home in a residential neighborhood,
likely part of a wider decapitation campaign launched by the Trump
administration to kill rebel leaders.
Other strikes targeted Yemen's mountainous Amran governorate, north of
the rebel-held capital of Sanaa. There, the Houthis described American
strikes hitting telecommunication equipment. Previous U.S. strikes also
targeted telecommunications gear in Amran near Jebel Aswad, or the
“Black Mountain.”
Strikes later apparently targeted Jebel Nuqum, near Sanaa. Others hit
Dhamar and Ibb governorates, wounding three.
The U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees American military
operations, did not immediately acknowledge the strikes. That follows a
pattern for the command, which now has authorization from the White
House to conduct strikes at will in the campaign that began March 15.
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The American military also hasn't been providing any information on
targets hit. The White House has said over 200 strikes have been
conducted so far.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking in the Oval Office on
Monday during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
warned that America was “not going to relent” in its campaign
targeting the Houthis.
“So we have a lot more options and a lot more pressure to apply,”
Hegseth said. "And we know, because we see the reports, how
devastating this campaign has been in them. And we will not relent.”
An AP review has found the new U.S. operation against the Houthis
under President Donald Trump appears more extensive than that under
former President Joe Biden, as Washington moves from solely
targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel and dropping
bombs on cities.
The new campaign of airstrikes started after the rebels threatened
to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid
entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels have loosely defined what
constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted.
The Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles
and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors from
November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks
targeting American warships without success.
The U.S. campaign shows no signs of stopping, as the Trump
administration has linked its airstrikes on the Houthis to an effort
to pressure Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program as well.
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