US policy Civilian deaths rising as Yemen attacks escalate

I am the candidate of peace," Donald Trump declared on the campaign trail last November. Three months into his presidency, the war in Ukraine continues, the war in Gaza has restarted - and in Yemen, the number of civilian casualties caused by US bombing is rapidly and deliberately escalating.

- Dan Sabbagh

Sixty-eight were killed overnight, the Houthis said, when the US military was accused of bombing a detention centre holding African migrants in Saada, north-west Yemen, as part of a campaign against the rebel group. According to the US Central Command (Centcom), its purpose is to "restore freedom of navigation" in the Red Sea. A month ago, when US bombing against the Houthis restarted, Trump pledged that "the Houthi barbarians" would be "completely annihilated". It is a highly destructive bar, in line perhaps with the commitments made by Israeli leaders to "eliminate" Hamas, and in keeping with statements from Trump's defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, that the US military must focus on "lethality, lethality, lethality".