US launches large-scale strikes on Houthis, 31 killed

The United States on Saturday launched airstrikes in Yemen, causing 31 fatalities in an attempt to target Iran-backed Houthi rebels and “defend American interests.” The US Central Command, in a post on social media, shared images of fighters taking off in an aircraft carrier and a bomb destroying a building compound in Yemen. On March 15, US Central Command initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation.Washington warned Iran to stop backing the group.
US President Donald Trump announced the military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen and warn Iran to cut ties with the group. “These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk,” Trump said.Addressing Iran, Trump said, “Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”

WATCH: MASSIVE blast as new footage shows MOMENT American bombs hit Yemen https://t.co/KDICCdcNqh pic.twitter.com/5NuL5Eg7Pi

— RT (@RT_com) March 15, 2025

The Houthi-run health authorities in Yemen say that at least 13 civilians were killed and nine injured in US strikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa. At least 11 others, including four children and one woman, were killed and 14 were injured in a US strike on the northern province of Saada, the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reports.The Houthis’ political bureau describes the attacks as a “war crime.” “Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” it says in a statement.The Houthi media office said the U.S. strikes hit “a residential neighborhood” in Sanaa’s northern district of Shouab. Sanaa residents said at least four airstrikes rocked the Eastern Geraf neighborhood in Shouab district, terrifying women and children in the area.

In the late 1990s, the Houthi family in the far north of Yemen set up a religious revival movement for the Zaydi sect of Shi’ite Islam, which had once ruled Yemen, but whose northern heartland had became impoverished and marginalized. As friction with the government in the capital Sanaa grew, they fought a series of guerrilla wars with the national army and a brief border conflict with Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia.Abdul Malik al-Houthi created the defiant force challenging world powers from a group of ragtag mountain fighters in sandals. Al-Houthi established a reputation as a fierce battlefield commander before emerging as head of the Houthi movement.
A civil war erupted in Yemen in late 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa. Worried by the growing influence of Shi’ite Iran along its border, Saudi Arabia led a Western-backed coalition in March 2015, which intervened in support of the Saudi-backed government.The Houthis established control over much of the north and other large population centres, while the internationally recognised government based itself in the port city of Aden. Yemen enjoyed a period of relative calm amid a U.N.-led peace push, but a sharp escalation in regional tensions since the start of the Gaza war has increased risks of a new conflict between the militia and Riyadh.