US strikes over 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March: Pentagon

AFP , Thursday 1 May 2025

Washington says it has struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March as part of its air campaign against Houthi rebels, while the UK said on Wednesday it had joined a new round of strikes targeting drone-making facilities.

File Photo: This image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy shows an aircraft launching from the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen. AP

The Houthis began attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians and to pressure Israel to end its genocidal war on Gaza. In response, Israel’s key ally, the United States, launched air strikes against the group early the following year.

In the latest round of operations since 15 March, “USCENTCOM strikes have hit over 1,000 targets, killing Houthi fighters and leaders... and degrading their capabilities,” a Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Britain said on Wednesday it had joined the latest strikes. “UK forces participated in a joint operation with US forces against a Houthi military target in Yemen,” the Ministry of Defence said, adding that Royal Air Force aircraft struck buildings about 25km south of the capital, Sana’a, allegedly used by the Houthis to manufacture drones.

The UK defence secretary, John Healey, told parliament the initial assessment was that “the planned targets were all successfully hit” and that there was “no evidence of civilian casualties”.

He said the Houthis had carried out “over 320 attacks” on international shipping in the Red Sea since November 2023. Britain has joined multiple US-led strikes against Houthi positions since early 2024.

However, footage circulating on social media and Houthi-controlled media—material that has not been aired by Western outlets—has raised questions about the human cost of the strikes.

Hours after the US military said more than 800 targets had been hit since mid-March, Houthi officials claimed a US strike on a migrant detention centre in the city of Saada killed at least 68 people.

A UN spokesperson later expressed alarm, noting that preliminary information indicated that the victims were migrants. He also confirmed Houthi figures that 68 migrants had been killed and another 48 injured in the overnight strikes.

"We are saddened by the tragic loss of life where many of these migrants are believed to have been killed and injured," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, without mentioning the United States.

A US defence official said the military was looking into reports of civilian casualties.

The Houthi campaign has severely disrupted commercial traffic through the Suez Canal, a key global trade route that normally handles around 12 percent of world shipping.

The rebel group has said its attacks will continue as long as Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza persists.

Houthi attacks paused during an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which Israel unilaterally ended in March 2025.

On March 18, Israel carried out surprise airstrikes on Gaza, reigniting its genocidal war after enforcing a full blockade on the Gaza Strip on March 2.

The Houthi rebels have renewed their attacks in the six weeks since Israel resumed its war, calling for a ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.