After President Trump ordered a massive military strike against targets controlled by the group, Yemen's Houthi militia vowed to retaliate, killing at least 53 people.
The group has support from Iran, and he said women and children were killed during a strike on Saturday, the most important military action in the Middle East since Mr. Trump took office in January.
Houthis has launched an attack on Israel for more than a year and threatened commercial transport in the Red Sea with his ally Ally Hamas, who attacked Israeli attacks on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war. Houthis suspended his campaign in January after a ceasefire in Gaza, but vowed to strengthen his offensive again after Israel imposed aid on the enclave this month.
According to the Houthi-Run Media channel, U.S. air strikes target Yemen including the capital, Sana, Saada, Al-Bayda, Hajjah and Dhamar Provinces Houthi-controlled areas. Anis al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Ministry of Health of Hossi, said on Sunday that the strike killed at least 53 people and injured 98 people.
The number of casualties cannot be independently verified, and the United States has not made any estimates of the number of people killed or injured during the strike.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump's national security adviser Michael Waltz described the U.S. weekend attack on Yemen as successful and effective. “We hit the Houthi leadership and killed several of their main leaders last night, their infrastructure, missiles,” he said on Fox News Sunday. He defeated Houthis to “basically al-Qaeda, whose Iran-backed air defense and anti-fleet cruise missiles and drones attacked the entire global economy.”
The U.S. Central Command released a video of bomb upgraded buildings in Yemen, saying Washington has taken a precise strike to “defend American interests, block the enemy and restore freedom of navigation.”
Residents say the U.S. air strikes also targeted power facilities in the northwest town of Dahyan, causing nighttime power outages.
A UN spokesman expressed concern about the U.S. strike, while also pointing to the recent Houthi threat to resume the attack on the Red Sea.
Houthi-Run-Masirah TV channel reported that 13 people were killed and nine injured in air strikes on Al-Jeraf in Sana, the area is considered the stronghold of the group. In the northwest Sada province, 10 people, including four children, were killed when air strikes hit two buildings.
Residents in SANA shared images and videos on social media showing rising windows and fireballs of hit websites. Others posted painful news when the air strike came.
Sana resident Abdul Rahman Al-Nuerah said the explosion broke the windows of his home, terrifying his four children. “I immediately hugged and comforted them,” Mr. Al-Nuerah said by phone. “The kids and mothers are scared and still shocked.”
Houthi senior leader Mohammed al-Bukhaiti vowed to retaliate against the United States, saying the strike was unreasonable. “We will respond to the upgrade by upgrading,” he wrote on X.
Houthi rebels controlling much of northern Yemen temporarily stopped attacks on the Red Sea when they came into effect in Gaza in January. But last week, they said they would target any Israeli ships that violated the ban on crossing the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Babur Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden.
Bab El-Mandeb is the strait between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
In a statement on his Truth Society Platform, Mr. Trump said the strike was also intended to warn Iran, which is a major supporter of Hotis.
“Support for Houthi terrorists must end immediately!” he wrote. He also warned Iran not to threaten the United States, saying, “The United States will put you completely in charge and we won’t be very good about it!”
A more active campaign against Houthis, especially the Houthi leadership, would reduce the organization's ability to threaten international transport, some military analysts and former U.S. commanders said Sunday. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., retired head of the Pentagon Central Command.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the United States will conduct a “ruthless” strike campaign against Houthis until radical groups stop their actions in the Red Sea.
“It’s not a one-night event. It will continue until you say, “We’ve already filmed on board.” We've shot it on the assets,” Mr. Heggs told Fox News on Sunday. “The sport is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence. ”
Iran strongly condemns the strike.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said they violated international law on the use of force and respect for national sovereignty.
Hossein Salami, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Force, denied Sunday that his country was making policy decisions for Yemen's rebels. The Houthi militia “make their own strategic decisions” and Tehran “has no effect in formulating the organization's national or operational policies,” the words of the Iranian national news agency.
Days after taking office, Mr. Trump issued an executive order to rename Husseus as a “foreign terrorist organization” saying it posed a threat to regional security.
The order restored the first designation given to the group by the Trump administration later. The Biden administration canceled its designation shortly after taking office, in part to promote peace talks in the Yemeni civil war.
Last year, the Biden administration labeled Houthis as a “specially designated global terrorist” group (a less serious category) in response to attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov told Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday that all parties should stop “using force” and conduct “political dialogue” in Yemen, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moscow condemned us and the British strike against Yemen.
Hezbollah, another armed agent for Iran in the region, condemned the Yemen strike and described it as a “war crime.”
Carol Rosenberg,,,,, Eric Schimitt and Leily Nikounazar Contribution report.
