US President Donald Trump ordered massive attacks on the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on Saturday that led to the deaths of nine people, according to reports.
The US is carrying out airstrikes against Houthi bases, leaders and missile defence sites in order to protect American shipping and restore freedom of navigation, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones,” Trump wrote in his post.
Washington reclassified the Iran-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization in early March.
Addressing Iran, Trump wrote that support for the Houthis must end immediately. Tehran should not threaten the American people, its president or global shipping routes, he said. If Iran does, it should “BEWARE because America will hold you fully accountable, and we won’t be nice about it!” he added.
The Houthis in Yemen said late on Saturday that US-British strikes had hit areas north of the capital.
The Houthi-affiliated television station al-Masirah said “an American-British aggression targeted a residential neighbourhood in the Shu’ub district, north of the capital, Sana’a, with raids.”
Nine civilians were killed and nine others were injured, most of them seriously, in the airstrikes, Yemen’s Ministry of Health and Environment told the SABA news agency.
The ministry condemned the crime of targeting civilians and civilian objects, which constitutes a full-fledged war crime and a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions, the agency reported.