Following public burials in Sanaa, the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group announced that 17 Houthi fighters had been killed in US strikes.
“The bodies of many 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”, stated an official Houthi media outlet.
The United States revealed on Thursday that its military had carried out several attacks against missile launchers as Houthi fighters prepared to launch them against commercial vessels and US warships in the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed rebels, who control much of war-torn Yemen including the port of Hodeida, have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in what they claim is an effort to support Palestinians in Gaza, which has been devastated by the Israel-Hamas war.
US and British forces have responded with strikes on the Houthis, who have since declared both countries’ interests as legitimate targets.
