Houthi forces have escalated attacks on American ships in the Red Sea since October 2023 in response to the war in Gaza.
United States President Donald Trump shared a video on his social media purportedly showing an air strike killing dozens of Houthi fighters in Yemen.
The video, which looks like footage taken from a military drone or a loitering aircraft, shows several people standing together in an oval formation. The bird-eye view turns violent when those people are seemingly hit by a strike as a bright flash appears, followed by a huge cloud of dust and smoke.
The video then zooms out to a wider angle, showing several vehicles standing near the purported attack site as smoke continues to blow out.
Captioning the video, President Trump wrote, “These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis! They will never sink our ships again!”
Multiple US strikes in Yemen reported
Several strikes by the United States on the rebel group have been reported in Yemen in recent weeks. These strikes come in response to the rebel group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping.
A US strike hit rebel-controlled areas in Yemen on Wednesday, which killed around six people across the country according to Houthis, reported Associated Press.
Houthis have been attacking American ships crossing the Red Sea ever since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023 as a way of supporting Gaza. The United States has now launched an air strike campaign against the rebel Houthi fighters for downing several American ships. According to Houthi figures, 67 people have been killed so far in the US strikes.
The United States sees the attacks as a way of weakening Iran, which backs the Houthis, and its advancing nuclear program. Referring to the streak of recent US strikes on Houthis, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said, “Iran is incredibly weakened as a result of these attacks, and we have seen they have taken out Houthi leaders.”
“They’ve taken out critical members who were launching strikes on naval ships and on commercial vessels and this operation will not stop until the freedom of navigation in this region is restored.”
With agency inputs.
