One civilian was killed and at least one other was injured by alleged US airstrikes on a home in the Al-Sha’af area of Al-Sahqeen district of Sadaa, Yemen, on March 16, 2025. The home reportedly belonged to Abdul Rab Jarfan, a member of the Houthi Movement’s intelligence wing, who was also reportedly killed.

The US military released a statement that “On March 15, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) initiated an operation consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen in order to restore freedom of navigation.” However, as there are no detail on the locations of these strike, the incident has been graded as a “likely strike” until further information is provided.

On March 16, 2025, at 1:19 AM Sana’a time, @Almasirahbrk posted to Twitter, stating that “a martyr and a wounded person are the initial toll…”

At 3:11 AM, Facebook user Majed Al Madani wrote that the “death toll from the US bombing of a house in the Al-Sha’af district rises to two.” This was echoed by Facebook user Mohammed Al-Wajeeh.

Later the afternoon, at 11:21 AM, Facebook user Amphir said that a “US aircraft” had targeted the home of “Houthi leader Abdul Rab Jarfan in the Al-Sha’af area of Saqan district”, adding that he was reportedly killed.

That evening, Arabiya TV, posting to Facebook, said that Abdul Rab Jarfan had been killed. The post added that Abdul Rab Jarfan had been the Security Chief of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement.

A post by Facebook user Mustafa Al-Naimi reiterated that Abdul Rab Jarfan was Abdul Malik al-Houthis’s “special security chief”, noting that he was nicknamed “the mysterious guard”. The post by Mustafa included an image of a man with a light beard, mustache, and glasses, presumably Abdul Rab.

A post by Jamal Al-Maamari listed Abdul Rab Jarfan as “the deputy director of Al-Sayyid Abdulmalik Al-Houthi’s office, the former head of Houthi intelligence, the head of the National Security Agency, and the head of Al-Sayyid’s private security.” The post by Jamal was accompanied by an image of building debris, lit by flames smoldering among the wreckage. Another image shows a man that matches the image shared by Mustafa Al-Naimi. A post by Amaar dashrne to Facebook echoed this description of Abdul Rab’s Houthi affiliation.

Abdul Rab Jarfan’s name is on the US sanctions list, specifically the “specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (“SDN List”)”.

A post shared by Ramzi Tounsi on Facebook and mirrored by Twitter/X user @mst1230001 said that the strike targeted a “Houthi meeting” that was taking place at Abdul Rab’s home. At the time of writing, Abdul Rab is the only named individual who was killed, but as some sources reported two deaths, Airwars has included a civilian death range of 1-1 to account for this excluding Abdul Rab.

Some reports, including one shared by Twitter/X user @khabiruknow showed an image of an empty meeting hall that included seating for 80 plus people is potentially from inside of Abdul Rab’s home. @khabiruknow accompanied the image of the empty meeting hall with an image of the same hall, crowded with people. If the image is indeed from Abdul Rab’s home which was struck, it does not seem that the hall was filled to this extent at the time of the strike. This will be updated should additional information become available.

When referencing the belligerent, all sources referred to U.S. forces.