US President Donald Trump has ordered airstrikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels because of the group's attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, NOVA reported.
Trump warned that “hell will fall on them” if they do not abandon their campaign.
The US president also warned Iran, the main backer of the Houthis, that it must immediately stop supporting the group. He said that if Iran threatened the United States, "America will hold them fully responsible." At least nine civilians were killed and nine wounded in U.S. airstrikes on Sanaa in Yemen, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a Houthi building. "The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake. Women and children were terrified," a resident who gave his name as Abdullah Yahya told Reuters. The Houthis have launched more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023, saying they stand in solidarity with the Palestinians over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. During that period, the group sank two ships, captured another and killed at least four sailors in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing companies to shift to longer and more expensive voyages off the coast of South Africa.
The previous US administration of President Joe Biden sought to reduce the Houthis’ ability to attack ships off their coasts but limited US action.
Anonymous US officials have said Trump has authorized a more aggressive approach that appears to be in line with his rhetoric. “The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until our objective is achieved,” Trump wrote.
The attack marks the first strikes on Yemen since a ceasefire agreement in Gaza came into effect in January. The attack on the Houthis comes days after they announced plans to resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red and Arabian Seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm that began in January with the Gaza ceasefire.