US strikes Houthis, 31 dead; Trump warns Red Sea attacks must end

WASHINGTON/ADEN: US President Donald Trump launched large-scale military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, killing at least 31 people at the start of a campaign expected to last many days. He vowed to use "overwhelming lethal force" until the Houthis cease their attacks.

Trump also warned Iran, the Houthis' main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support for the group. He said if Iran threatened the US, "America will hold you fully accountable and, we won't be nice about it!" In response, Hossein Salami, top commander of Revolutionary Guards, said the Houthis took their own decisions. "We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they carry out their threats." Tehran also condemned the strikes as a "gross violation" of the UN Charter and international law.

Houthis' political bureau described the attacks as a "war crime" and said its forces were ready to "meet escalation with escalation. On Sunday, the group's military spokesperson said it targeted US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and its warships with ballistic missiles and drones in response, but offered no evidence

The strikes represent the biggest US military operation in West Asia since Trump took office in Jan. It came as the US ramped up sanctions pressure on Tehran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the US will keep attacking the Houthis until they end attacks on shipping. "The minute the Houthis say we'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your drones, this campaign will end, but until then it will be unrelenting."

For more than a year, the Houthis have launched attacks against Israel and threatened commercial shipping in Red Sea in solidarity with their ally Hamas, which led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that set off the war in Gaza. The Houthis suspended the campaign in Jan after a ceasefire was reached in Gaza, but have vowed to step up attacks again after Israel instituted a blockade on aid to the enclave this month.

The US airstrikes targeted Houthi-controlled areas across Yemen, including the capital, Sana, as well as Saada, al-Bayda, Hajjah and Dhamar Provinces, according to reports from Houthi-run media channels. The strikes killed at least 31 people and wounded 101, "most of whom were children and women," Anis al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry, said On the other hand, Michael Waltz, Trump's national security adviser, said: "We hit Houthi leadership, killing several of their key leaders last night, their infrastructure, the missiles."

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio discussed the military operation with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Lavrov called for an immediate halt to using force in the region, stressing the importance of all parties to enter political dialogue, the ministry said, adding that the call was initiated by the US.