Houthi self-declared ‘Prime Minister’ killed in Israeli air strike on Sanaa: BBC

New Delhi, Aug 31: Yemen’s Houthi rebel movement has confirmed that its self-declared Prime Minister, Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, was killed in an Israeli air strike earlier this week, the BBC reported.

According to the Iran-backed group, several senior officers were also killed when the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) targeted the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Thursday. The IDF said Rahawi and other senior Houthi figures were “eliminated” after fighter jets struck a gathering in the Sanaa area.

The Houthis, who have controlled much of north-west Yemen since 2014 after ousting the recognised government, said Rahawi died alongside a number of ministers, though it did not name them. Saudi news outlet al-Hadath, as quoted by BBC, reported that the Houthi foreign minister, along with the ministers for justice, youth and sports, social affairs and labour, were among those killed.

The office of Mahdi al-Mashat, the Houthis’ president, said several other ministers had sustained “moderate and serious injuries” in the strike, adding that deputy prime minister Muhammad Ahmed Miftah would assume Rahawi’s role.

The IDF said the operation was carried out “within a few hours” of receiving intelligence on the gathering, and that it was still assessing the full impact of the strike, reports BBC.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the Houthis have stepped up missile attacks against Israel and targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, claiming to act in solidarity with Palestinians. Israel has responded with repeated air strikes on Houthi-held territory. Earlier this month, Israeli strikes on Sanaa killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 90.