US strike kills dozens at Yemen migrant detention center, Yemeni officials say
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(LONDON) — An American overnight airstrike in Yemen killed at least 68 people at a migrant detention center in the Saada Governorate, according to the country’s Civil Defense organization.
Another 47 people were injured in the strike in the city of Saada, in the northwest of the country, the Yemen Civil Defense said in a statement posted to Telegram on Monday morning.
The struck center housed around 100 African migrants, the Yemen Civil Defense said. There was no immediate U.S. comment on the strike.
A statement issued by the U.S. military’s Central Command before the alleged attack on the migrants’ center was reported said its “intense and sustained campaign” since March 15 has so far struck more than 800 targets and “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including senior Houthi missile and UAV officials.”
President Donald Trump’s administration intensified the U.S. airstrike campaign against Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen from March 15, expanding a campaign that began under former President Joe Biden in response to Houthi attacks on commercial and military shipping and strikes on Israel.
The Houthis began their attacks in October 2023, in response to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted.
Central Command said its strikes “have degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks. Ballistic missile launches have dropped by 69%. Additionally, attacks from one way attack drones have decreased by 55%.”
“U.S. strikes destroyed the ability of Ras Isa Port to accept fuel which will begin to impact Houthi ability to not only conduct operations, but also to generate millions of dollars in revenue for their terror activities,” the statement read.
“Iran undoubtedly continues to provide support to the Houthis,” Central command continued. “The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime.”
“We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region,” the command said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Hundreds of Ukrainian drones crossed into Russia overnight into Wednesday morning, dozens of which targeted Moscow and again caused disruption to flights in and out of the capital, according to officials there.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 296 Ukrainian drones over 12 regions — including the capital Moscow — during the latest round of long-range strikes.
Moscow Governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram that at least 42 drones were downed over the region. Vorobyov reported damage to three homes in the town of Chekhov around 40 miles south of the capital.
Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport — one of four international airports in the capital — also warned travelers of delays due to flight restrictions imposed during the latest drone attack. Recent weeks have seen regular disruptions to Moscow’s airports during such strikes.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram there were “some pretty good hits” during Tuesday night’s attack.
Among the targets were the Dubna Machine-Building Plant — involved in the production of aviation, missile and drone technology, Kovalenko said — in the city of Dubna, around 70 miles north of Moscow.
Kovalenko said the Technopark ELMA-Zelenograd facility — which hosts the development of microelectronics, IT, robotics and medical equipment — was also targeted. The facility “is one of the centers where import substitution of critical components previously imported from the West takes place,” Kovalenko said.
ABC News could not immediately verify Kovalenko’s claim of successful strikes on the facilities.
Russia continued its own long-range attacks on Ukraine overnight. Ukraine’s air force said Moscow launched six missiles and 88 strike drones into the country, of which 71 drones were shot down or otherwise neutralized. The air force said it recorded impacts in eight locations.
The intensity of strikes by both sides have only increased since President Donald Trump’s return to office in January, the president having promised to end Russia’s war on its neighbor war in 24 hours. Trump has not delivered on that promise, and his frustration appears to have been building in recent weeks with the continued failure of U.S.-led ceasefire efforts.
Trump called Putin “absolutely crazy” in a Sunday social media post, then on Tuesday said Putin “doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”
The U.S. and Ukraine are now waiting for Russia to deliver its peace memorandum — a document promised by Putin to Trump during a phone call between the two leaders earlier this month. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Tuesday that Moscow was still working on the document.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cast doubt on the Russian proposal. “They’ve already spent over a week on this,” he wrote on social media on Tuesday. “They talk a lot about diplomacy. But when, in the midst of all that, there are constant Russian strikes, constant killings, relentless assaults, and even preparations for new offensives.”
On Wednesday, Andriy Yermak — the head of Zelenskyy’s presidential office — wrote on Telegram, “Russians are masters of empty words.”
(WASHINGTON) — The search for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing in their vehicle during a scheduled training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania, is ongoing Friday, with officials bringing in more assets to help with the recovery mission, the Army said.
The soldiers, who are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, went missing on Tuesday while operating a M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle, the Army said. On Wednesday, the 70-ton vehicle was found submerged in about 15 feet of water and mud in a training area, the Army said.
“Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp,” and the vehicle “may have just gone diagonally to the bottom,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC News via phone.
Sakaliene said Thursday that the search has shifted from rescue to a “complicated” recovery mission. The Army said crews are “working around the clock to drain water, dig, and dredge the mud that surrounds the vehicle.”
“The area around the site is incredibly wet and marshy and doesn’t support the weight of the equipment needed for the recovery of the 70-ton vehicle without significant engineering improvements,” the Army said in a statement Friday. “Draining the area has been slow and difficult due to ground water seepage.”
“A large capacity slurry pump, cranes, more than 30 tons of gravel, and subject matter experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are just some of the assets that arrived on site,” the Army said. “The Polish Armed Forces have also volunteered a unit of military engineers, which is bringing in an additional water pump, tracked recovery vehicles, other additional equipment and supplies needed along with 150 personnel.”
A specialized U.S. Navy dive crew is also expected to arrive on site by Saturday, the Army said.
“This will be a long and difficult recovery operation, but we are absolutely committed to bringing our soldiers home,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor said in a statement.
Sakaliene said Thursday the Lithuanians will also remain dedicated to the recovery.
“Working with American soldiers has always been close to our hearts,” she said. “They are not just allies — they are family to us.”
(LONDON) — Israel’s decision to halt all humanitarian aid from crossing into Gaza is entering its third month.
The Israeli government said the blockade is to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, including the remains of those who have died, and to accept a new proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal, which ended on March 18.
Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) wrote in a post on X in late April that humanitarian personnel have been allowed to enter and exit Gaza to support humanitarian efforts in the strip.
But multiple doctors and international aid workers told ABC News that water, food, medicine and medical supplies are running low, and in some cases running out completely.
Children are becoming malnourished, diseases are at risk of spreading and those who are injured cannot be treated properly, the workers said.
“If nothing is done, if food is not brought in, if water is not brought in, if vaccines are not brought in at scale — we’re already in a catastrophe, and we’re going to have way more children dying [from] preventable causes,” Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication for UNICEF Palestine, told ABC News.
A Trump administration official told ABC News there is a no-yet-finalized plan to administer the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza, starting with fewer than half a dozen distribution sites set up throughout the enclave.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.
Children becoming malnourished
The lack of food entering Gaza is one of the most severe problems the strip is facing, according to aid workers.
Osama As, the lead for quality, evidence and learning with the Mercy Corps Gaza Emergency Response Program, said the situation “is getting worse day after day, especially in relation to food” because most people in Gaza depend on humanitarian aid and community kitchens for food.
He said most families survive on one meal a day, and that most food available is canned food and bread.
“I never imagined that we would reach this point. Most people cannot afford the remaining items, which are either like canned foods and few quantities of vegetables which are produced locally here in Gaza,” As, who is based in Gaza, said. “The prices are very high, so I think most people cannot afford these kinds of items to buy from the local market.”
Dr. Ahmed Alfar, head of the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, said he has seen many examples of malnourished children over the past two months.
One example he gave is a baby girl named Siwar, who was born four months ago. At birth, she weighed 2.5 kilograms, or 5.5 pounds.
Four months later, she should be weighing about 5 kilograms, or 11 pounds. Instead, she is only about 6 pounds, according to Alfar.
Alfar said the mother is unable to lactate and the family does not have much money, so they have been unable to feed Siwar milk, just sweetened water.
“That means in four months she gained just 200 grams, and this is unbelievable,” he told ABC News in Arabic. “She was a full-term baby. She was delivered vaginally. Her health was completely normal. … We called it one of the most severe [cases of] malnutrition. Now Siwar is facing a severe, critical situation.”
Similarly, Crickx, from UNICEF Palestine, who is currently in Al Mawasi, in southern Gaza, said he visited Nasser Hospital this week and met a 4-year-old boy named Osama.
Crickx said Osama should weigh 15 to 16 kilograms, about 33 to 35 pounds. Instead, he weighs 8 kilograms, or 17.5 pounds, Crickx said.
He said UNICEF and its partners have a small number of ready-to-use therapeutic foods to treat malnutrition, but they are running out. UNICEF has already run out of food meant to address the first signs of malnutrition.
“[Osama] has, really, the skin on the bones, and he was healthy before the beginning of this terrible war,” Crickx said. “So, we are now in a situation where children are hungry, they are little by little being affected more and more by acute malnutrition, acute severe malnutrition. And if nothing is done, we fear that the worst will happen to them.”
Community kitchen workers told ABC News if the border crossings remain closed, markets will close, and ingredients will run out. Some food relief organizations have already closed.
In late April, the United Nations’ World Food Programme said it had delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meal kitchens in Gaza, and it expected to fully run out of food in the coming days. Additionally, the nonprofit group World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced on Wednesday that it had run out of supplies and ingredients needed to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza.
WCK said it has trucks loaded with food and cooking fuel that have been ready to enter Gaza since early March as well as additional food and equipment ready to be shipped from Jordan and Egypt.
“In recent weeks, our teams stretched every remaining ingredient and fuel source using creativity and determination. We turned to alternative fuels like wood pallets and olive husk pellets and pivoted away from rice recipes that require more fuel in favor of stews with bread,” WCK said. “But we have now reached the limits of what is possible.”
Risk of spreading disease
The blockade has also had an impact on the spread of disease in Gaza, aid workers said.
Overcrowding in tent camps — along with a lack of clean water, hygiene products and poor sanitation — puts Gazans at risk of contracting infectious diseases, they said.
Limited supplies of soap and hygienic products “will continue to lead to escalation in skin manifestations of diseases like scabies,” Dr. Aqsa Durrani, a pediatrician who was recently on assignment in Gaza with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, told ABC News.
It’s unclear how many infections have been diagnosed over the past two months but a study from April 2024 estimated 55,400 cases of scabies and lice outbreaks among children under age five who were displaced.
Limited clean drinking water and overcrowded camps has also led to a rise in diarrheal diseases. A report from the Institute for Palestine Studies estimates at least half of cases recorded as of Jan. 2024 have been among children under 5 years old.
Crickx said a majority of children are affected by chronic watery diarrhea, which can lead to serious complications for babies and toddlers.
There has also been a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases in Gaza including hepatitis A, chickenpox, measles and polio.
Aid workers say the blockade imposed by Israel has halted the delivery of vaccines, such as the oral polio vaccine to Gaza, leaving residents vulnerable to diseases.
“Even in these terrible conditions, we have pregnant women and babies still being born in this community and population of 2 million people,” Durrani said. “And so, we need more vaccinations as well vaccines.”
Hospitals running out of supplies to treat injured
Since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel responded by declaring war, thousands have reportedly been killed or injured. Israel has said its goal is to destroy Hamas and that it attempts to minimize civilian casualties as often as possible.
More than 15 months into the conflict, Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire deal. The ceasefire saw the withdrawal of some Israeli forces to allow more aid to get in and the release of some of the hostages.
However, resumption of hostilities in mid-March led to an increase in injuries, Crickx said. UNICEF estimates that more than 500 children have been killed since March 18 and more than 1.250 children have been injured.
Durrani — who worked as medical activity manager for MSF at a field hospital in Deir al Balah in central Gaza from the end of February until the end of April — said she saw injuries caused by air strikes, fires after air strikes and from large cooking fires.
“Because there’s no cooking gas, people are burning household items and trying to cook over large open flames,’ she said. “So, we also saw children with burns due to those flames, as well as scald burns from children who had been waiting in food distribution lines, and the jostling of the food items would then lead to them being injured from hot food.”
What’s more, burn victims or those who are injured can take longer to heal due to malnourishment. They can also be at risk of infections or skin graft failure.
Durrani explained that poor wound healing can be associated with poor nutrition, which resulted in some pediatric burn patients developing infections.
“Not only was our staff hungry, but we also had no food for our patients, including our pediatric patients,” Durrani said. “Other than just being harrowing from a human perspective, it’s also, from a medical perspective, really impacts the way that people can heal from these injuries, and these types of burns.”
“Not even being clear that we will have enough antibiotics to treat the infection if the patients develop infections,” she continued. “In the face of also not having enough surgical materials or concern that we may run critically low on anesthesia supplies if they need to go back to the [operating room].”
In conversations with doctors this week, Crickx said hospitals are experiencing shortages of anesthetics and anticoagulants. There is also a lack of medical supplies to fix bones when they suffer fractures, he said.
Durrani said her team was forced to ration medications, including painkillers, antibiotics and critical surgery supplies. They often had to perform painful procedures and wound dressing changes without any pain control.
She said she didn’t want to cause pain by removing dressings without proper pain control, but if the dressings aren’t removed, then it could lead to infections for patients.
“We’re being forced to make impossible decisions like that, which is unconscionable, given that just miles away there are trucks and trucks full of food and supplies and medications and nutritional sources,” she said. “For me personally, this is the first time that I had to look patients in the eye and say I didn’t have something that I know is just miles away.”
ABC News’ Shannon Kingston and Diaa Ostaz contributed to this report.
