US strikes kill 12 in Yemen's capital

DUBAI/SANAA — US airstrikes targeting Yemen's capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthis said early on Monday.

The deaths marked the latest in the United States' intensified campaign of strikes targeting the group. The US military's Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign.

The Houthis said the strike hit the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaa's Shuub district.

Footage aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital.

Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including the Amran, Hodeidah, Marib and Saada governorates.

Tensions between the Houthi group and the US military have escalated since Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on March 15 to deter the group from targeting Israel and US warships.

Later on Monday, the Houthis said they launched attacks at two Israeli targets and two US aircraft carriers, using drones and cruise missiles.

"We launched a drone attack at a vital target in the city of Ashkelon and another drone attack at a military target in the city of Eilat," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by al-Masirah TV.

The group also targeted USS Harry S. Truman in the northern Red Sea and USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea, using cruise missiles and drones, Sarea said.

The Israel Defense Forces have yet to comment on the Houthi claim, nor the US military.

Attack plans 'leak'

In another development, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Houthis in a message group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

The revelations of a second Signal chat raise more questions about Hegseth's use of an unclassified messaging system to share highly sensitive security details.

In the second chat, Hegseth shared details of the attack similar to those revealed last month by The Atlantic magazine after its editor-in-chief was included in a separate chat on the Signal app by mistake, in an embarrassing incident involving all of US President Donald Trump's most senior national security officials.

The person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the second chat included about a dozen people and was created during his confirmation process to discuss administrative issues rather than detailed military planning.

The chat included details of the schedule of the airstrikes, the person said.

Agencies - Xinhua