Trump also warned Iran, the Houthis' main backer, that
it needed to immediately halt support to the group. He said if Iran threatened
the United States "America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t
be nice about it!"
At least nine civilians were killed and nine injured in US
strikes on Yemen's Sanaa, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.
Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a building in a
stronghold of the militant Houthi group.
"The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood
like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children," one of the
residents, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia, told Reuters.
The
Houthis launched more than 100 attacks targeting shipping from November 2023,
saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel's war with Hamas
in Gaza. During that period, the group sank two vessels, seized another and
killed at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping,
forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern
Africa.
The previous US administration of President Joe Biden had
sought to degrade the Houthis ability to attack vessels off its coast but
limited the US actions.
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Trump
has authorized a more aggressive approach, which appeared to match his rhetoric
on Saturday.
"The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be
tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our
objective," Trump wrote.
The
attack marks the first strikes to hit Yemen since the Gaza ceasefire deal took
effect in January, this year.
It also came a few days after the Houthis said they
would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas,
the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm
starting in January with the Gaza ceasefire.
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