AL-MUKALLA: Two students were killed and at least 10 were injured in a stampede at a Yemeni school caused by US and UK airstrikes in the southern province of Taiz, Houthi media said on Tuesday.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah channel reported that American and British jets carried out strikes on a location, believed to be a military base, near Aiysha school in Taiz’s Al-Janad, causing frightened students to stampede through the school’s doors, killing two and injuring at least 10.
Houthi media broadcast footage from a local medical facility in Taiz, showing what appeared to be the bodies of two dead female students wrapped in white garments while other wounded students received treatment.
The reported strikes by US and UK aircraft are the latest in a series of military operations against Houthi targets in response to the militia’s attacks on ships.
On Tuesday, Monday and Sunday, the Houthis reported that US and UK aircraft struck Ibb, Hodeidah and Taiz, respectively.
Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni military officer in Taiz, told Arab News that Al-Janad in Taiz has at least five military bases, and he believes the warplanes may have targeted the Al-Janad army base, which is the closest military site to the school.
Al-Baher said that the Tariq Air Base is Al-Janad’s largest military base, where “Iranian and Lebanese military experts assemble missiles and drones.”
It came as Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea claimed on Tuesday that militia forces shot down a new US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the northern province of Saada, the second such claim in less than a week and the ninth since the militia’s anti-ship campaign began in November.
On Saturday, the Houthis claimed to have shot down a US MQ-9 drone that was carrying out “hostile operations” over the central provinces of Marib.
Unlike previous videos released following their announcements, the Houthis have not broadcast footage of the latest two drones being shot down to support their claims.
At the same time, US Central Command said on Tuesday morning that its forces destroyed two Houthi missile systems and one support vehicle in Houthi-held Yemeni territory, as well as one Houthi drone over the Red Sea, over the previous 24 hours.
During the past 10 months, the Houthis have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones and drone boats at international commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and other seas, claiming to be acting in support of Palestinians against Israel’s war in Gaza.
