US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis kill 31, Trump warns ‘Your time is up’
NEW DELHI, MAR 16 : At least 31 people were killed and over 100 injured after US President Donald Trump launched large-scale military strikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday in response to their attacks on Red Sea shipping. He warned that if the group does not cease its actions, they will face severe consequences, saying, “hell will rain down” on them.
Trump also issued a stern warning to Iran, the main supporter of the Houthis, demanding an immediate end to its backing of the group. He cautioned that any threat to the United States would have serious consequences, “America will hold you fully accountable, and we won’t be nice about it!”
“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
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The ongoing strikes mark the most extensive US military operation in the Middle East since Trump became President in January. The offensive comes as US intensifies sanctions on Tehran in an effort to pressure it into nuclear negotiations, Reuters reported.
The Houthis’ political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime.”
“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” it said in a statement.
The strikes on Saturday were carried out in part by fighter aircraft from the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, which is in the Red Sea, officials said.
The US military’s Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, described Saturday’s strikes as the start of a large-scale operation across Yemen.
“Houthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice,” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X. “Freedom of Navigation will be restored.”
Trump held out the prospect of far more devastating military action against Yemen. “The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” Trump wrote.
HOW YEMEN RESIDENTS DESCRIBED STRIKES
Residents in Sanaa said that strikes were violent and felt like an earthquake. One of the resident said the strikes hit a building in a Houthi stronghold.
“The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children,” one of the residents told Reuters.
Another strike on a power station in Saada’s Dahyan led to a power cut, Al-Masirah TV reported early .-AFP
