Mohammed doesn’t know why his neighborhood was hit by a US fighter on Sunday evening.
He lives in Tokuban, in the Bani Al-Haris district of Yemen’s capital. It has nothing to do with Ansalala or military activities, he said.
At least 12 civilians were killed and four were injured on April 27th in the US attack on Thuqban.
Mohammed said the strike “quickly” wiped out four homes. One of those houses belonged to Alisara, who lived there with her four daughters and two sons.
“The strike crashed into the house at 8pm and killed the whole family,” Mohammed told Middle East Eye.
“We rushed to the scene looking for them in the tile rub. They were not found. They were just bodies. It was a horrifying scene of indescribable cruelty.”
It has since argued that the US may have targeted areas based on X’s amateur open source intelligence account.
At least two anonymous accounts posted coordinates for the Thuqban region, falsely claiming it was Ansalala’s military status. One user then apologized.
“Based on the satellite image, I marked this quarry as an underground base and tweeted it like that,” wrote @vleckiehond. “I’m pretty sure Centcom doesn’t get targeting data from Twitter, but this is still a very serious mistake.”
“I sincerely apologize for this error in my judgment. I will never intend to spread false information here or elsewhere.”
As part of the apology, users posted screenshots of donations totaling $500 to the Borderless Doctor and Yemen Data Project.
For Thuqban residents, donations will not regain their neighbours or relatives.
“The murder of innocent civilians is a terrible failure for the United States. It will extend the war and create more enemies,” Mohammed said.
“Our tears and blood promote our will to fight against the Americans.”
An official from the US Central Command (CENTCOM) told MEE that the operation will be carried out using detailed and comprehensive intelligence that will ensure a fatal impact on Iran-backed Houthis.
“The explosion tore my brother apart.”
US President Donald Trump’s administration launched a fatal campaign in Yemen on March 15th, known as Operation Roughrider.
According to Centcom, 800 targets were attacked, killing Ansarallah’s fighter and leader.
But human rights groups have been paying attention to the surprising rates of civilian deaths and injuries caused by US administration strikes over the past month.
That was clearly evident early on Monday (April 28), when a strike at an immigration detention centre in Sadah, northwest in the country killed 68 African migrants and injured dozens more.
The seemingly indiscriminate attack caused Yemenis to injure and sadize his trauma.
Ahmed, in his 20s, lost his younger brother on April 20th in a US strike at Farwe Market in Sanaa.
“My brother goes to the bakery and buys bread for dinner,” Ahmed told Mee. “The explosion tore him apart. Many others were killed and injured in homes and shops.”
Health officials say the strike killed 12 civilians and injured 30 people.
The 50-year-old Ali has slightly survived the market attack.
“I saw two burnt bodies on my bike and a woman and a child who died on the ground,” he told Mee. “There was one dead person in the grocery store, one in the bakery, and one in the minibus.”
“It’s a heinous massacre, and logical people on earth can’t justify it.”
The UK joins the US strike
Late Tuesday night, the UK joined the US allies in Yemen, an impressive first time since early 2024.
The UK Department of Defense said the RAF typhoon targeted a “cluster of buildings” 15 miles south of Sanaa. It said Ansalara was used to manufacture drones targeting transport in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
That same night, US airstrikes were reported in several other parts of Sanaa, including Banimatal, Al-Husun, Hamdan and Bani-Hushaish districts.
The latter district in northeastern Sanaa is where Faisal Sagil sat by the window of his apartment with his son Samir.
At 10:20pm they heard a plane hovering nearby. The hovering lasted for 30 seconds, and ended with a big explosion nearby.
“The strike hit my neighbor’s one-storey house, 30 metres from my apartment,” Sagil said. He was relieved to learn that his neighbor had survived narrowly.
Glass from the window was crushed everywhere, causing him and Shamea to be wounded from the explosion. Another of his 12-year-old son suffered trauma and cried over and overnight.
Sagier emphasized that Ansalala has no military or administrative presence in the neighborhood.
He said the trauma he and his sons were exposed to was difficult to forget. “The horror we saw on TV in Gaza has now come to our doorstep.”