The United States has said that the ongoing operation against the Houthis will continue until they announce an end to attacks on ships in the Red Sea. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the announcement on Sunday local time. But the Houthis have announced that they will continue to retaliate if the US attack continues. Reuters reports
On Saturday night, the US military began attacking various Houthi targets in Yemen. At least 53 people have been killed in the attack, according to the Houthi-run Ministry of Health. Five children and two women are among the dead. 98 people were injured in the attack. However, the Pentagon did not immediately comment on the civilian casualties.
The ongoing attack against the Houthis in the Middle East is the largest US military operation since Trump took office in January. The attack began at a time when Washington is trying to force Tehran to negotiate over its nuclear program by increasing sanctions. A US official told Reuters that the attack could last for weeks.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday that if the US continues its attacks on Yemen, our attacks on its ships in the Red Sea will continue. “If they continue their aggression, we will continue to respond,” he said.
The Houthi political bureau has described the US attack as a “war crime.” Moscow has called on Washington to stop the attacks.
On Sunday, a Houthi military spokesman claimed, without providing any evidence, that they had launched missile and drone attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and other warships in the Red Sea. The strikes were in response to the US attacks.
The same day, a US official told Reuters that their aircraft had shot down 11 Houthi drones. None of the drones came close to the Harry S. Truman. The official added that their forces had identified a missile that had crashed off the Yemeni coast. They did not see it as a threat.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures", "Whenever the Houthis say we will stop attacking your ships, we will stop shooting at their drones. When they say they will stop attacking the ships, this operation will end. But until then, the operation will continue."
Pete Hegseth said, "The issue is that we have to stop targeting our assets in vital waterways ... so that freedom of navigation can be restored, which is a vital national interest of the United States. Iran has been sponsoring the Houthis for a long time, and that has to stop."
The Houthis have been fighting an armed struggle for more than a decade. They currently control most of Yemen. Since November 2023, they have carried out more than 100 attacks targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea. They claim that they are carrying out these attacks in solidarity with Palestinians who are victims of Israeli attacks in Gaza. The US is having to launch a costly military operation to intercept the missiles and drones fired by the Houthis. Last week, the group said it would attack Israeli ships in the Red Sea if Israel lifted its blockade on Gaza, or face a military strike.
On Saturday, Trump called on the Houthis to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea, warning them of “hell rain” if they did not. Trump threatened Tehran, saying that if Iran threatened the US, “America will hold you fully accountable. That will not be good for you.”