Houthi rebels say 40 Yemenis killed in US-British airstrikes since last January

SANAA, Yemen

The Yemeni group Houthi said Thursday that at least 40 Yemenis were killed and 35 others injured since the beginning of the American-British airstrikes on the country last January.

“The US and Britain launched 452 attacks against Yemen since January 12, killing 40 people and injuring 35 others,” the group leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a recorded speech aired by the Houthi-run Al-Masirah television.

Al-Houthi did not specify whether the casualties were civilians or fighters from his group.

However, the group revealed in two previous statements the killing of 22 of its fighters, including high-ranking officers in the airstrikes.

The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated or heading to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been under a devastating Israeli offensive since Oct. 7, 2023.

With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that they consider all American and British ships military targets.

• Houthi group
• Red Sea
• Yemen