Donald Trump orders strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, 9 dead in Sana’a attacks

Smoke rises after the American-Israeli aircraft launched a series of airstrikes on the capital, Sana'a, in Yemen. Photo / via Getty Images

• Nine people were killed and nine wounded in US strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, according to Houthi rebels.
• Donald Trump announced the attacks, citing Houthi threats against Red Sea shipping during the Gaza war.
• The Houthis vowed to respond, stating their forces are prepared to ‘confront escalation with escalation’.

Nine people died in strikes on Yemen’s capital of Sana’a on Saturday local time, Houthi rebels said, after United States President Donald Trump announced an attack on the Iran-backed group.

Another nine people were wounded in the first US strikes on the Houthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, since Trump took office in January.

An AFP photographer in Sana’a heard three explosions and saw plumes of smoke coming from a residential district in the north of the rebel-held capital. Security forces cordoned off the area immediately.

“Nine civilians were killed and nine others were injured, most of them seriously,” the Houthis’ health and environment ministry said in a statement on the group’s Saba news agency.

The rebels’ Al-Masirah TV station said an “American-British aggression raided a residential neighbourhood in the Shu’ub district” in Sana’a. It later reported such a strike on the Houthi stronghold of Saada.

There was no immediate comment from British authorities.

In a post on social media, Trump vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”, citing the Houthis' threats against Red Sea shipping.

The Houthis hit back in a statement on Al-Masirah vowing that the strikes “will not pass without response”.

“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation,” the rebels' political bureau said.

Trump also warned Iran that it must “immediately” cut support to the rebels.

The rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.

They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.

The campaign crippled the vital route, which normally carries about 12% of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.

‘Hell will rain down’

In response, the US has launched several rounds of strikes on Houthi targets, some with British support.

After halting their attacks when Gaza’s ceasefire took effect in January, the Houthis announced on Tuesday local time that they would resume them until Israel lifts its blockade of aid to the shattered Palestinian territory.

Trump’s statement did not reference the dispute over Israel, but focused on previous Houthi attacks on merchant shipping.

“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.

“Do NOT threaten the American People, their President... or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”

This month, the US reclassified the Houthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, banning any US interaction with it.

The Houthis captured Sana’a in 2014 and were poised to overrun most of the rest of the country before a Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year.

The war has largely been on hold since a 2022 ceasefire but the promised peace process has stalled in the face of the Houthi attacks on Israel and Israel-linked shipping.

- Agence France-Presse