World Affairs
Houthi-run agency reports 10 killed in Saada house strike
A later Houthi-run Saba report puts the toll at 10 dead and 23 injured, up from the health ministry figures AP reported earlier. Saudi Arabia had not immediately commented, and the toll and responsibility remain unverified independently.
Executive summary
- Saba reported a higher toll from a house strike in Saada: Yemen’s Houthi-run Saba news agency said the Health and Environment Ministry raised its count to 10 people killed and 23 injured after a strike hit a home in Sahar district, Saada province. Saba identified the house as belonging to a local resident, Ali al-Qahm.[1]
- The update differs from the ministry figures AP reported earlier: The Associated Press reported an earlier ministry count of nine people killed and 19 wounded. The later Saba statement gives different demographic details as well. Neither outlet reported independent on-site confirmation of the revised toll.[2][1]
- Saudi responsibility remains an attributed allegation: The Houthi-run ministry blamed Saudi Arabia. AP said the Saudi government had not immediately commented; the reporting reviewed does not independently establish who carried out the strike.[2][1]
Saba, the news agency based in Houthi-controlled Sana’a, reported that Yemen’s Health and Environment Ministry now counted 10 people killed and 23 injured after a strike hit a house in Sahar district, in Saada province. Saba said the house belonged to Ali al-Qahm, a local resident. The ministry’s statement was the source for the updated figures; the report does not describe an independent count.[1]
The Associated Press had earlier reported the ministry’s initial tally as nine people killed and 19 wounded. AP’s account said the initial count included five children and two women among those killed, and 11 children among the injured. Saba’s later statement said seven children and one woman were among the dead, and that 12 children were critically injured; it also said 10 women were among the injured. The figures are attributed to the same Houthi-run ministry at different reporting times, and the demographic breakdowns do not match exactly.[2][1]
The difference is a reported update, not independent confirmation that the later numbers are final. Neither AP’s initial report nor Saba’s update cited an outside verification of the casualties or a separate on-site assessment.[2][1]
Saba and the Houthi-run ministry attributed the strike to Saudi Arabia. AP also reported that the ministry blamed Saudi Arabia, while noting that the Saudi government had not immediately commented. Those reports document the accusation; they do not independently establish which force carried out the strike.[2][1]
The attack comes amid renewed fighting between Houthi forces and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen. AP described the fighting as a renewed phase of the country’s civil war after a four-year ceasefire. The available reporting does not establish the intended target of the strike or explain why the house was hit.[2]