Donald Trump launches wave of air strikes on Yemen’s Houthis

The US has launched a “decisive and powerful” wave of air strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, President Donald Trump has said, citing the armed group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea as the reason.

“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform, adding that their “piracy, violence, and terrorism” had cost “billions of dollars” and put lives at risk.

The Houthi-run health ministry said at least 13 people were killed and nine others injured in the strikes.

The group – which began targeting shipping in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza – said its forces would respond to US strikes.

In a statement, the Houthis blamed the US and the UK for “wicked” aggression targeting residential areas in Sanaa. However, it is understood that London is not behind Saturday’s strikes on the Middle Eastern country.

The Houthis are an Iranian-backed rebel group, which considers Israel its enemy. It controls the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country’s internationally-recognised government.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, it has launched hundreds of attacks on commercial vessels travelling through the Red Sea.

These attacks, Trump said, “will not be tolerated”.

“We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.”

Initially, the group said it was attacking ships connected with, or that had docked in, Israel. However, many of the vessels have no connection with Israel.

Trump said that it had been more than a year since a US-flagged ship had sailed safely through the Suez Canal – which the Red Sea leads to – and four months since a US warship had been through the body of water between east Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

The Suez Canal is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe, and is particularly important in the transportation of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Addressing the Houthis directly, Trump wrote that if they did not stop, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE”.

But the Houthis were unwavering in their response, saying the aggression would not wane their support for Palestinians.

“This aggression will not go without response and our Yemeni armed forces are ready to answer escalation with further escalation,” the group added.

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the Houthi’s “benefactor”, Iran, was “on notice”.

For more than a year major shipping companies were forced to stop using the Red Sea – through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes – and used a much longer route around southern Africa instead.

The Houthis launched 190 attacks in the Red Sea between November 2023 and October 2024, according to the US Congress.

Previously, the UK and US conducted joint naval and air strikes against the group. Israel has also targeted sites linked to the Houthis in separate strikes.

Trump urged Iran to cease its support for the Houthis, warning that Washington would hold Tehran “fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it”.

He also accused the previous White House administration, under Joe Biden, of being “pathetically weak” and allowing the “unrestrained Houthis” to keep going.