Trump says US military carried out major air raids against Yemen’s Houthis

In his most significant military operation to date, US President Donald Trump has announced a number of strikes on Yemeni Houthi targets.

According to Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry, the strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on Saturday left nine people dead and nine injured.

“Your attacks must end right away, and you must do it now.” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social, his social media site, that if they don’t, “hell will pour down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before.”

Trump continued, “I have ordered the US military to launch a decisive and potent military operation against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.”

He claimed in the post that the Iran-aligned group was threatening Red Sea shipping, “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have accomplished our objective.”

After Israel began bombing the besieged enclave, the Houthis, who have the majority of the Arabian Peninsula nation, launched a campaign against the busy sea route to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Trump also stated that Iran must stop supporting the Houthis right away. He said, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it,” if Iran threatens the US.

Attacks in Sanaa were previously reported by Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV. The U.S. strikes “hit a residential neighborhood,” according to the Houthi media office in Shouab, Sanaa’s northern district.

According to Sanaa residents, at least four airstrikes terrified the Shouab district’s Eastern Geraf neighborhood, frightening residents and locals. Abdallah al-Alffi claimed that “the explosions were very strong.” It resembled an earthquake, they said.

The armed group’s announcement this week that Israel would resume attacks on Israeli ships follows Israel’s failure to put an end to its punishing blockade of the Gaza Strip’s humanitarian aid delivery. The Yemeni organization stated that the Red Sea’s current immigration law will apply to all Israeli ships.

Any Israeli ship that attempts to violate this ban will be targeted in the designated zone of operations, the statement read on Tuesday read. The group claimed that the “ban” also includes the Gulf of Aden, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Arabian Sea.

Due to the strikes, significant volumes of maritime traffic between Asia and Europe had to travel significantly longer distances from the Suez Canal to other parts of Africa.

Since January 2024, the US and some of its allies have launched a number of cruise missile attacks against Yemen as the Houthis continue to pursue their extensive maritime campaign and Israel’s conflict raged.

When the Gaza ceasefire was established in January, the group stopped its drone and missile attacks, which had targeted Israeli-affiliated vessels.

In an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining captives it took in its October 7, 2023 attack, Israel threatened to resume the attacks on March 2, blocking all aid to Gaza.