Yemen Govt, Houthis Trade Blame for Hodeidah Wedding Bombing

Five killed in New Years Day bombing

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.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.