Saudi coalition downs Houthi missiles after Sanaa strikes

Airstrikes hit homes in a village east of Yemen's capital on Saturday, November 7, and killed at least 33 people and wounded 39, according to Houthi authorities. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia. Reuters, as carried by Ariana News, called it one of the deadliest reported attacks since fighting between Riyadh and the Iran-aligned group resumed in July. Reuters could not independently verify the account. Saudi Arabia's Center for International Communication said it was looking into the report.ariananews.af+1

The strikes came during one of the bloodiest stretches of Yemen's revived civil war. Meanwhile, a Houthi siege of Taiz is deepening a humanitarian emergency that the United Nations warns is heading toward catastrophe.

Rescuers trapped under rubble

Early tolls ran lower. The Associated Press first reported 22 dead in the village of al-Shariya, in the Bani Hushaysh district. Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi later raised the figure to 33 in a post on X, saying the dead included 12 men, eight women and 13 children. The Houthis' Saba news agency said "aircraft targeted paramedics with two strikes."nst.com.my+1

Abdul-Aziz al-Dailami, director of Sehatuna Hospital in Sanaa, told Reuters that many victims, including first responders, were still trapped under the rubble. "The strikes keep coming. Just as rescuers arrive, another strike hits," he said.anewz.tv

The strike came one day after an attack on a crowded market in Taiz province killed at least 30 people. Each side blamed the other for the market attack. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree promised revenge "against the killer of children and women". On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted Houthi ballistic and cruise missiles fired toward Riyadh.hawaiitribune-herald.com+1

A war reignited

The renewed fighting has broken a 2022 UN-brokered truce. It has become a front in the wider regional war that followed U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran in February. The World Health Organization said almost 1,800 people had been killed by the end of October. In October, the International Organization for Migration put the number of people displaced since fighting resumed at more than 200,000. The WHO has since reported a higher figure, more than 300,000.ariananews.af+2

Taiz under siege

Houthi forces have surrounded Taiz since early October and cut the road to Aden, the government's interim capital. The UN humanitarian office OCHA says more than 800,000 people there have been cut off from assistance. Displaced mothers in the city are collecting plastic bottles from the trash to buy food. "Taiz is undoubtedly the No. 1 concern right now, in an ocean of concerns," said Akhil Iyer, UNICEF's representative in Yemen. A UNHCR spokesperson told France 24 that the country faces the threat of catastrophe as fighting along the Red Sea coast intensifies.france24.com+1