In Yemen's Sanaa, fear and defiance after US bombs

Al Jazeera

20-03-2025

Sanaa, Yemen – Mukhtar Ahmed was riding his bike in northern Sanaa's al-Jiraf area when the ground trembled beneath him. Thunderous explosions echoed through the air, followed by the sound of terrified screams.
It was Saturday just after sunset, a time when people were home for iftar during the holy month of Ramadan
'I got off the bike and darted towards an alley. I thought it would be impossible to survive,' the 26-year-old restaurant delivery courier told Al Jazeera. 'The sheer terror of those explosions could kill.'
Mukhtar had no idea what had caused the deafening roar heard across Yemen's densely populated capital. But he later came to realise, the United States was bombing Yemen.
A wave of American air strikes had killed more than 50 people.
The bombs pounded the vicinity of the political office of the Houthi rebel group (officially known as Ansar Allah), the de facto rulers of Yemen's populous northwest.
It marked the beginning of an ongoing US bombing campaign that may usher in a new phase of war and instability for Yemen.
Who can stop the US?
On March 7, a week before the US strikes began, the Houthis gave Israel a four-day deadline to lift its blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. If it did not, the Yemeni group promised to resume attacking Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Those attacks had stopped when the now-broken Gaza ceasefire began in January but for the 15 months before that, the Houthis had paralysed shipping in one of the world's most important waterways and fired projectiles towards Israel.
The United Kingdom and the US launched hundreds of air strikes on what were reportedly Houthi targets, including weapons depots, missile launch pads and airports. Israel has also attacked Yemen.
The ostensible purpose of these attacks was to 'degrade' the military capabilities of the Iran-allied Houthis.
But the renewed US air strikes have hit residential areas where senior Houthi members are believed to reside, showing little regard for civilian lives.
Second, the Houthis had not carried out any attacks despite their threat.
With this shift under US President Donald Trump, fears of war, shortages, and displacement haunt Yemeni civilians, who have endured years of hardship since the beginning of the country's civil war in 2014 between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed, United Nations-recognised government.
The conflict on the ground in Yemen has been largely frozen since 2022 with the Houthis and Saudi Arabia involved in negotiations. But those talks have done little to end the humanitarian crisis in the country, where millions of people are hungry.
Many Yemenis now believe things are going to get worse, a fear strengthened by Trump's rhetoric.
'Hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before,' the US president said in a threat to the Houthis.
And for Mukhtar, he fears Gaza has set a precedent for how bombing campaigns are conducted in the region.
'The US is like Israel, and Hamas is like the Houthis,' Mukhtar said, 'so if the US-Houthi war continues, the US will do to Sanaa like what Israel has done to Gaza. Who will stop them?'
Fear of chaos
In a bustling street in Maeen in western Sanaa, Faisal Mohammed carried a blue bag filled with new clothes for his five children, purchased in preparation for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which is expected to fall on March 30.
But 38-year-old Faisal says Eid will be overshadowed by the US attacks. He is afraid of what is to come.
'The Americans aim to kill Houthi officials who run Sanaa and other provinces,' he said. 'Killing the [Houthi] leadership will spark chaos, and this will hurt us.'
The Houthis took control of Sanaa in September 2014. Since then, the group has firmly embedded itself and proven itself on the battlefield.
But as the US intensifies its attacks on Yemen, the Houthis rivals may see the tide turning in their favour – and that worries Faisal.
'Pro-government forces could be motivated by the American air strikes and begin pushing towards Houthi-controlled provinces,' Faisal said. 'This will mean an all-out civil war and an additional cycle of misery.'
Faisal has thought about leaving Sanaa and moving to a safer area.
'The Houthis will not surrender, and their Yemeni rivals, if supported by America, will not back down,' Faisal said. 'It will be disastrous.'
Prices and explosions
In Bani Hushaish on the northeastern outskirts of Sanaa, Ali Abdullah filled his gas cylinder at a cooking gas station, but he did not plan to use it. He was stocking up in anticipation of a potential price rise.
'We fear sudden price hikes. They are an ugly companion of war,' the 48-year-old told Al Jazeera.
Even before the renewed US bombing, Washington's actions have left Yemen – and particularly its Houthi-controlled regions – in a precarious position.
In January, Trump redesignated the Houthis as a 'foreign terrorist organisation' (FTO) over their attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel.
'The FTO squeezes the larger economy, limiting access to international financing, making it difficult for traders to acquire letters of credit and insurance to import everything from food, fuel to household goods and beyond,' wrote April Longley Alley, a senior expert on the Gulf and Yemen at the US Institute of Peace.
Defiant
The Houthis, having ridden out a years-long bombing campaign and motivated by belief in their ultimate victory, are unlikely to back down – at least not in the short term.
The group's supporters massed in Sanaa on Monday in defiance of the US, many of them brandishing firearms.
Mohammed, a Houthi fighter who only wanted to give his first name, said the US bombing of Yemen was proof the US is 'a habitual aggressor'.
'Americans seek to intimidate and humiliate us. But that won't happen,' he said, standing with a rifle on his shoulder near a market in central Sanaa.
'We were not born to live forever,' he added. 'We will certainly die. It is better to die with honour. The honour is confronting an arrogant aggressor like the US.'
Anti-US sentiment has surged in Yemen over the past months. American support for Israel's war on Gaza and its air strikes on Yemeni cities have fuelled resentment.
The Houthi leadership remains defiant. Houthi Abdel-Malik al-Houthi warned in a televised speech on Sunday that the US attacks will only lead to more violence.
'We will confront escalation with escalation,' he said.
That rhetoric has many in Sanaa fearful of what is to come.
Mukhtar is still haunted by what he saw and heard on Saturday. He wondered aloud what happened to the civilians killed when the bombs hit. 'They must have turned to ash,' he answered himself, worrying that is what the future will bring.
'The Houthis are stubborn, and Trump is impulsive,' Mukhtar said. 'The result will be catastrophic – deaths, injuries, food and fuel shortages, and relentless fear.
'Today, we're desperate for peace – nothing else.'