The health ministry of Iranian-backed rebel group, Houthi, has revealed that at least 53 people have been killed, including five children, following a wave of US airstrikes on Yemen.
The strikes, launched on Saturday, were described by Washington as a “decisive and powerful” response to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
President Donald Trump, announcing the action, said the strikes targeted Houthi militants who had threatened international shipping.
“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump said in a statement on social media. He warned that unless the attacks stopped, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE.”
According to Houthi officials, the death toll includes “five children and two women”, while 98 others were reported injured.
“I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” a resident identified as Ahmed told AFP.
The US said several key Houthi leaders were killed in the strikes, although the group has not confirmed this. US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said on ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out”. Speaking to Fox News, he added, “We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough.”
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed an “unrelenting” missile campaign. “I want to be very clear, this campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence,” he said in a televised Fox Business interview.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi responded by declaring that his fighters would continue to strike US ships in the Red Sea as long as attacks on Yemen persisted. The group also reported additional US strikes early Monday in Al Jaouf and Hudaydah, although Washington has not commented on the latest claims.
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The Houthis have said they will keep targeting Red Sea shipping routes until Israel lifts its blockade of Gaza. They maintain their actions are in support of Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas, and have often claimed they only attack vessels linked to Israel, the US or the UK — assertions frequently dismissed by Western officials as baseless.
Iran, which backs the Houthis, has condemned the US operation. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy”, urging Washington to “end support for Israeli genocide and terrorism” and “stop killing of Yemeni people”.
Meanwhile, the Houthis have claimed responsibility, without evidence, for two separate attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and other American warships in the Red Sea. A US official told Reuters that American warplanes had downed 11 Houthi drones on Sunday, none of which came close to the Truman.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “utmost restraint and a cessation of all military activities” in Yemen.
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