Pentagon Denies Airstrike Killed Civilians at Yemen UNESCO Site, Points to Houthi Rocket
The US Central Command on Thursday refuted Houthi claims that American airstrikes killed civilians near the Old City of Sanaa—Yemen’s UNESCO‐listed heritage site—on Sunday, attributing the blast instead to a Houthi air defense missile.
Yemen’s Houthi‐run health ministry said a dozen people died in what it called a US attack on a residential neighborhood. But a US spokesperson told reporters that the closest US strike that night was more than three miles away and that local reporting—including video showing Arabic script on missile fragments—indicated the blast was caused by a Houthi missile.
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A Houthi official, quoted by The New York Times, dismissed the US denial as an “attempt to smear the Houthis.” The US military says it will share no further evidence but pointed out that Sanaa’s Old City lies within the UN designated heritage zone.
The clarification arrives amid an intensified US campaign, ordered by President Donald Trump last month, against the Iran‐aligned Houthis—who in recent months have launched drones and missiles at Red Sea shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Rights groups have raised alarms over civilian casualties, and three Democratic senators, including Chris Van Hollen, have written to the Pentagon chief demanding a full accounting of noncombatant losses.
Separately, Yemen’s local health authorities report that US strikes this week killed 74 people at an oil terminal—the deadliest single raid under the current administration—part of Washington’s stated effort to sever the Houthis’ military and economic lifelines.
Since seizing much of Yemen over the past decade, the Houthis have repeatedly targeted international shipping, claiming their actions protest the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where over 51,000 Palestinians have died in Israel’s offensive since October 7, 2023. That conflict was sparked by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, which left 1,200 Israelis dead and around 250 taken hostage.
