During a period of mounting tensions across Yemen, an explosion hit a wedding on New Years Day in the contested port of Hodeidah. Five women were killed in the attack, and both sides were quick to trade blame.
So far there is no conclusive evidence which side was responsible for the rocket strike on the wedding. The Houthis were quick to reject responsibility for an attack near the Hodeidah airport, and indeed it would be unlikely they’d strike an area already under their control.
It isn’t clear that the Saudi-backed government stands to gain anything from attacking a wedding either, though it would hardly be the first time that, in their escalation after a previous bombing blamed on the Houthis, they just started hitting things.
The area around Hodeidah is meant to be under a ceasefire of sorts, a deal meant to avoid cutting off food supplies through what is one of the last functioning seaports in the war-torn nation.