Airwars assessment
Two airstrikes allegedly conducted by the US military, possibly with the support of the UK military, injured up to nine civilians and killed two others shortly before 2:40 PM on Thursday, June 13th, 2024, at a radio building in the government complex in Al-Jabin (Jubain) District, Raymah Governorate, western Yemen.
According to Facebook user Nabil, the Yemeni Ministry of Health in the Sana’a government initially reported five injured, one of whom was in critical condition. The victims were allegedly workers from the Rayman radio building, which is part of the government complex. Later reports on social media quoting a Chief Commander indicated that the toll rose to nine injured and two killed civilians. A photo of politician Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was posted along with the update of the toll where he stated that the building was a civilian administrative complex and not a military facility.
Facebook user Kamal Qeshra wrote that five colleagues working at Raymah Radio were injured (one of them seriously) as a result of two American and British raids. He added that nearly nothing remained of the government complex after it had been destroyed years ago by the Saudi bombing (the first bombing), except for a small place that was temporarily reclaimed as the headquarters of the government radio.
A photo shared by Facebook user Sanaa demonstrated the aftermath of the strike with immense gray and reddish clouds covering the landscape. Another picture from Asya News Agency at a different angle, captured the explosion in broad daylight.
Where sources identified the belligerent, the sources indicated the US and the UK military were responsible for the attacks.
US Central Command (CENTCO) released a statement the evening of June 13th that “In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed one air defense sensor in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen. Then, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed surface vessel (USV) and two Houthi patrol boats in the Red Sea. Separately, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed one uncrewed aerial system (UAS) launched from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen over the Red Sea.” CENCTOM then released a statement the evening of June 14th that “In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed two Houthi uncrewed surface vessels (USV) in the Red Sea. Additionally, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed one uncrewed aerial system (UAS) launched from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen over the Red Sea. Separately, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed seven Iranian-backed Houthi radars in a Houthi controlled area in Yemen. These radars allow the Houthis to target maritime vessels and endanger commercial shipping.” It is unclear which statement would cover the strike which resulted in civilian harm and due to the lack of locational detail, it would be impossible to match the strike covered in this assessment with the CENTCOM statements. Therefore, this incident has been graded as a “likely strike”.
The UK military did not release a statement around the time period of the strike.
Furthermore, Al Awadi Facebook account disclosed the belligerents also carried out multiple raids in other areas such as the At Tuhayat district, the Al Salif district, or the Al Faza coast.
The incident occured at approximately 2:40 pm local time.