A total of 17 Houthi fighters were killed in US strikes, the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group said through its official media Saturday, following public funerals in the capital Sanaa.
“The bodies of a number of martyrs of the nation and the armed and security forces who were martyred as a result of the bombing of the American-British aggression were carried through Sanaa today in a solemn funeral procession,” Houthi official media said, listing their names.The US confirmed on Thursday that its military had conducted a number of strikes against missile launchers as Houthi fighters prepared to launch them against commercial shipping and US warships.
The Iran-backed rebels, who control much of war-torn Yemen including the port of Hodeida, have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in a campaign they say is in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.
US and British forces have responded with strikes against the Houthis, who have since declared both countries’ interests to be legitimate targets as well.
Scores of supporters gathered at Sanaa’s Al-Shaab mosque, formerly Al-Saleh mosque, on Saturday for the funerals of the Houthis killed in the strikes.
On Wednesday the Houthis’ news agency reported that the US and Britain had hit targets in Yemen’s Hodeida province. On Tuesday the Houthi rebels said they had struck US and British ships in two attacks.