In the Yemen Sanaa, fear and challenge after bombs | Conflict news

Sanaa, Yemen – Mukhtar Ahmed was cycling in the north of the Al-Jiraf region of Sanaa when the ground was shaking under it. Stormy The explosions resounded in the air, followed by the sound of terrified cries.

It was on Saturday after sunset, an era when people were at home for Iftar during the sacred month of Ramadan

“I went down from the bike and headed for an alley. I thought it would be impossible to survive,” said the 26 -year -old restaurant delivery courier in Al Jazeera. “The pure terror of these explosions could kill.”

Mukhtar had no idea what had caused the deafening roar heard through the densely populated capital of Yemen. But he realized later, The United States bombed Yemen.

A wave of American air strikes had killed more than 50 people.

The bombs struck the surroundings of the political bureau of the rebel Houthi group (officially known as Ansar Allah), de facto leaders in northwest Yemen.

He marked the start of a American bombing campaign This can inaugurate a new phase of war and instability for Yemen.

Who can stop the United States?

On March 7, a week before the start of the American strikes, the Houthis gave Israel a four -day deadline To lift your blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. If this is not the case, the Yemeni group promised to take over the ships linked to the attack of Israel in the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

These attacks had stopped when the ceasefire of Gaza, now broken, started in January, but during the previous 15 months, the Houthis had paralyzed the expedition in one of the most important waterways in the world and drawn from the projectiles to Israel.

The United Kingdom and the United States have launched hundreds of air strikes on what would have been Houthi targets, including arms deposits, missile launching ramps and airports. Israel also attacked Yemen.

The ostensible goal of these attacks was to “degrade” the military capacities of the Houthis allied by Iran.

But renewed United States air strikes have reached residential areas where high Houthi members are, which shows little respect for civil life.

Second, the Houthis had not made any attack despite their threat.

With this change under American President Donald Trump, fears of war, shortages and Hanton trips of Yemeni civilians, which have endured years of difficulty since the start of the country’s civil war in 2014 between the government recognized by the Houthis and Yemen, supported by the United Nations.

The conflict in the field in Yemen has been largely frozen since 2022 with the Houthis and Saudi Arabia involved in the negotiations. But these talks did not do little to put an end to the country’s humanitarian crisis, where millions of people are hungry.

Many Yemenis now believe that things will get worse, a fear reinforced by Trump’s rhetoric.

“Hell will rain on you as nothing you have ever seen before,” said the American president threatens the Houthis.

And for Mukhtar, he fears that Gaza has established a precedent on how the bombing campaigns are carried out in the region.

“The United States is like Israel, and Hamas is like the Houthis,” said Mukhtar, “so if the American war continues, the United States will do to Sanaa as what Israel has done in Gaza. Who will stop them?”

Fear of chaos

In a lively street in Maeen in western Sanaa, Faisal Mohammed wore a blue bag filled with new clothes for its five children, bought in preparation for the Eid al-Fitr holidays, which should fall on March 30.

But Faisal, 38, says that Eid will be overshadowed by American attacks. He is afraid of what is to come.

“The Americans aim to kill Houthi officials who run Sanaa and other provinces,” he said. “The death of the leaders (Houthi) will trigger chaos, and that will hurt us.”

The Houthis took control of Sanaa in September 2014. Since then, the group has firmly itself integrated And has proven itself on the battlefield.

But as the United States intensifies its Attacks against YemenHouthi rivals can see the tide turning in their favor – and who worries about Faisal.

“Pro-government forces could be motivated by American air strikes and start pushing towards the provinces controlled by the Houthi,” said Faisal. “It will mean total civil war and an additional cycle of misery.”

Faisal thought of leaving Sanaa and moving to a safer area.

“The Houthis will not surrender, and their Yemeni rivals, if they are supported by America, will not back down,” said Faisal. “It will be disastrous.”

Price and explosions

In Bani Hushaish on the northeast periphery of Sanaa, Ali Abdullah filled his gas cylinder in a cooking service station, but he had not planned to use it. It was full in anticipation of a potential price increase.

“We fear increased price increases. They are a ugly companion of war,” said 48 -year -old.

Even before the renewed American bombings, Washington’s actions left Yemen – and in particular its regions controlled by the Houthis – in a precarious position.

In January, Trump redrawn the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO) for their attacks against the Red Sea and Israel.

“The FTO hits the greatest economy, limiting access to international financing, which makes it difficult for merchants to acquire letters of credit and insurance to import everything from food, fuel into household items and beyond,” wrote April Longley Alley, a main expert in the Gulf and Yemen at the US Institute of Peace.

Challenge

The Houthis, having set up a bombing campaign of several years and motivated by the belief in their ultimate victory, will not back off – at least not in the short term.

Supporters of the group massaged Sanaa on Monday in defiance of the United States on Monday, many of them brandish firearms.

Mohammed, a Houthi fighter who did not want to give his first name, said that the American bombing of Yemen was proof that the United States was “a usual aggressor”.

“Americans seek to intimidate us and humiliate us. But that will not 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 honor. Honor is faced with an arrogant attacker like the United States. ”

The anti-US feeling has jumped in Yemen in recent months. The American support for the War of Israel against Gaza and its air strikes on Yemeni cities have fueled resentment.

The Houthi management remains provocative. Houthi Abdel-Malik al-Houthi warned on Sunday in a television speech that American attacks will only cause more violence.

“We are going to face climbing with climbing,” he said.

This rhetoric has a lot in Sanaa fearing what is to come.

Mukhtar is still haunted by what he saw and heard on Saturday. He wondered aloud what happened to civilians killed when the bombs hit. “They must have turned to Ash,” he replied, fearing that the future brings.

“The Houthis are stubborn and Trump is impulsive,” said Mukhtar. “The result will be catastrophic – deaths, injuries, shortages of food and fuel and incessant fear.

“Today, we are desperate for peace – nothing else.”