President Trump said the US launched a “decisive and powerful” strike against Yemen's Hooti militants, warning that the military would “use overwhelming, deadly force” until Iran-backed rebels stopped attacks on cargo ships and freed the regional shipping lanes.
Trump wrote that air attacks target Houthi's bases, leaders and missile defense systems to “protect American transport, air and naval assets and restore freedom of navigation.”
“We will not stop American commercial and naval vessels from sailing freely through the waterways of the world,” Trump said in a Saturday post on the True Society.
The attack was carried out by air force attack jets and armed drones that took off from various bases in the area, and sources familiar with the matter, along with fighter jets from Harry S. Truman's aircraft carrier, told the hill.
The source added that this was “not a one-day event.” This is the first of many, if not a few weeks of strikes. ”
“Houthis suffocated transportation in one of the world's most important waterways, halted the vast strip of global commerce and attacked the core principles of voyage freedom on which international trade and commerce relies,” the president said.
In late January, Trump signed an executive order directing the administration to redesignate Yemeni Houtis as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), pointing to group attacks on Middle Eastern commercial vessels, US naval vessels and civilian infrastructure.
Saturday's attack also damaged “several” residential buildings in the Shaub district, north of Yemen's capital Sanaa, Houthi-run al Masirah TV reported.
Iran-backed group on Tuesday I said It resumes attacks on Israeli ships through Arabia and the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Straits, warning that it will become a target if it violates the group's “prohibition on the passage of all Israeli ships.”
Houthis will maintain it “until the intersection to the Gaza Strip is resumed and aid, food and medicine are permitted.”
Israel suspended aid flowing into the war-torn Gaza Strip earlier this month.
The Housis fired the ship with drones and missiles as Palestinian extremist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, igniting a war in the region.
The UK, the US and Israel retaliated against Houthis several times last year.
Trump warned the Houchys on Saturday that attacks on the cargo ships must stop or that “Hell will rain on you like you've never seen before.”
Saturday's attacks mark the first confirmed US strike against Iran-backed groups since Trump took office in January.
The commander also warned Iran. Iran warned that Tehran's support for the Houssis must end “quickly” as it told them to start new negotiations on a new nuclear deal.
“Americans who have received one of the biggest orders in presidential history or one of the global shipping lanes, don't intimidate their president,” Trump said. “If that's the case, then America will hold you completely accountable, so be careful.
