Houthis Promise Retaliations For Death Of 12 Senior Figures: Israel

JAKARTA - Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of 12 senior Houthi figures, including their prime minister, who died as a result of an Israeli attack on the largest mosque in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

The attack on Thursday last week, which first killed top officials, hit large numbers of people gathered to watch televised speeches recorded by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, and killed most members of the group's cabinet.

The mourners shouted the Houthi slogan, "God is great, Lord America, torture Israel, Curse for Jews, Victory for Islam".

Meanwhile, Mohammed Miftah, who is now de facto head of government allied with Iran in Sanaa, vowed to take revenge and take firm action against spies in internal security.

"We are facing the strongest intelligence empire in the world, targeting governments - all Zionist entities (consisting of) US rule, Zionist entities, Zionist Arabs, and spies in Yemen," Miftah told a crowd of mourners at the Al Saleh Mosque.

Miftah became the acting head of the Houthi government on Saturday after the death of Prime Minister Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi in an Israeli attack.

Al-Rahwi is mostly an extra figure and not part of the inner circle of power. Miftah was previously his deputy.

A raid on the United Nations (UN) office in Sanaa on Sunday led to the detention of 11 UN personnel, the agency said.

The Houthis did not give the reason for the raid, but they have detained a number of Yemeni employees at the United Nations and other aid agencies in the past on suspicion of spying.

Israel said on Friday its airstrikes targeted Houthi chiefs of staff, defense ministers, and other senior officials, and that it was verifying the results.

The fate of the influential Houthi defense minister, Mohamed al-Atify, who leads the Missile Brigade Group, remains unclear as he has not appeared since the attack.