WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump launched military strikes against Yemen’s Houthis on Saturday over the group’s attacks against ships in the Red Sea, warning “hell will rain down upon you” if they did not stop targeting commercial vessels and U.S. warships.
Trump also warned Iran, the Houthis main backer, that it needed to immediately stop supporting the group. He said if Iran threatened the United States “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”
The strikes came just days after the Houthis announced plans to 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.
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 Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” Trump wrote.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; editing by Michelle Nichols and Nick Zieminski)
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