Donald Trump, the sitting president of the United States, recently announced a series of large-scale attacks on Yemen’s Houthis after the rebel group vowed to resume attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea due to Israel’s siege of Gaza. The US bombings on Yemen’s capital Sanaa, as well as locations in Saada, Al Bayda, and Radaa, began on Saturday and continued into the early hours of Sunday, killing 31 people and injuring 101, “the majority of whom were children and women,” health ministry spokeswoman Anis Al-Asbahi tweeted on X. The casualties in Saada consisted of four children and a lady. The US raids on Yemen were the most major military operation of Trump’s second term thus far.
Trump’s Statement
“Your time is over, and your attacks must end beginning today. If they don’t, hell will shower down on you like nothing you’ve ever seen,” Trump declared in a statement posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“I have ordered the US military today to launch a decisive and powerful military operation against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen,” he declared. He further stated that Washington “will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”.
Local News on Sanaa
According to local sources, the strikes in Sanna targeted munitions and rocket caches near the Houthi-controlled state television station in the Al-Jarraf area. Witnesses reported seeing a white smoke cloud rising from the suburb, as well as a series of explosions following the attacks.
This is the first military operation against Houthi targets since US President Donald Trump took office in January and rebranded the group as a “foreign terrorist organization.” Trump stated on Truth Social that the aerial attacks against “terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses were to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore navigational freedom.”
‘False and misleading’
The Houthis, who dominate much of Yemen, have yet to attack any ships, although threatening to do so last week in response to Israel’s blockage of all food, gasoline, and other supplies to the Gaza Strip. A Houthi official accused the US of exaggerating the threat to shipping operations in an attempt to sway public opinion.
“What the US president states about a threat to international navigation in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait is false and misleading to international public opinion,” Mohammed Abdul-Salam told a news conference.
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