Houthi-linked outlets said at least 33 people were killed and 39 wounded when an airstrike hit homes in al-Shariya, a town east of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday. Saudi Arabia’s Center for International Communication said it was investigating the report and had no immediate public response from the Saudi-led coalition.
The toll, described as near-final by Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi, included 13 children among the dead. Rescuers broadcast by al-Masirah television were shown pulling bodies from collapsed buildings. The claims could not be independently verified.
What the Houthis reported
Saba news agency, which is operated by the Houthis, said warplanes destroyed about six houses in the village. Alasbahi posted on X that recovery teams were still searching rubble and that strikes also hit paramedics during rescue work. Abdul-Aziz al-Dailami, director of Sehatuna Hospital in Sanaa, told outlets including Reuters that victims remained trapped beneath debris.
The reported deaths came in the same 24-hour window during which Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said coalition forces carried out 105 airstrikes and missile attacks across multiple provinces. The United Nations has said more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since major fighting resumed this year after years of relative quiet.
Riyadh on alert
Hours before the village strike became public, Saudi civil defense authorities issued early-warning alerts in Riyadh and Najran. The coalition later said air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh, plus another ballistic missile aimed at Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. The civil defense service later lifted the all-clear in both cities.
The back-and-forth fits a pattern that has accelerated since a 2022 truce frayed. Saudi forces struck Sanaa’s airport to block an Iranian aircraft from landing, according to regional analysts cited by international broadcasters, and the Houthis have since targeted Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and vessels near Yemen.
Fighting away from the capital
Ground combat has also intensified around Taiz, where an attack on a market on Friday reportedly killed about 30 people. Houthis blamed coalition airstrikes; government-aligned forces said a ballistic missile fired from Houthi-held territory struck the site, a framing the Houthis disputed. Houthi leader Mahdi al-Mashat said on social media that the movement would retaliate for recent attacks, without detailing a timeline.
Diplomatic efforts have not produced a new cease-fire. Qatar’s foreign ministry said reports that Washington and Tehran failed to reach an agreement were false, while U.S. officials have continued separate pressure on Iran through maritime enforcement elsewhere in the region. For civilians in Houthi-held territory, the weekend brought another round of casualty figures that outside investigators cannot yet confirm house by house.
What happens next
Humanitarian agencies have warned that obstruction of aid corridors and repeated air campaigns are compounding displacement. If Saudi officials confirm operations near Sanaa, pressure will fall on both sides to clarify targeting rules and allow independent access to strike sites. Until then, the only detailed victim breakdowns are coming from institutions aligned with the Houthis, while Riyadh weighs public statements against its ongoing missile-defense activations at home.