Trump tells Houthi rebels they will be ‘annihilated’ as airstrikes hit Yemen
US President Donald Trump has threatened Yemen’s Houthi rebels that they will be “completely annihilated” as American airstrikes pounded locations under their control, while further pressuring the group’s main benefactor Iran.
Strikes hit Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-held capital, as well as their stronghold of Saada in the country’s northwest on Wednesday night, the Houthi’s al-Maisrah satellite news channel reported.
It also said strikes happened overnight Tuesday, although the US military has not offered a breakdown of places targeted since the airstrikes campaign began.
The first strikes this weekend killed at least 53 people, including children, and wounded others.
As the strikes hit, Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social website that “tremendous damage has been inflicted upon the Houthi barbarians”.
“They will be completely annihilated!”
Meanwhile, Mr Trump again warned Iran not to arm the Houthis, claiming without offering evidence that Tehran “has lessened its intensity on military equipment and general support to the Houthis”.
“Iran must stop the sending of these supplies IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote.
Iran has long armed the Houthis, who are members of Islam’s minority Shiite Zaydi sect that ruled Yemen for 1,000 years until 1962. Tehran routinely denies arming the rebels, despite physical evidence, numerous seizures and experts tying the weapons to Iran. This is likely to be because Tehran wants to avoid sanctions for violating a United Nations arms embargo on the Houthis.
The Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January this year when a ceasefire began in Gaza.
The campaign also greatly raised the Houthis’ profile in the wider Arab world and dampened down public criticism against their human rights abuses and crackdowns on dissent and aid workers.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency acknowledged the rebels had been taking food aid out of a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse without permission. It said it took about 20% of the aid on handout.
The UN in February suspended its operations in Saada over security concerns following the detentions of dozens of UN workers and others. One WFP staffer died while imprisoned by the Houthis.