OAN Staff Blake Wolf
9:03 AM – Sunday, March 16, 2025
On Saturday, President Donald Trump ordered a series of airstrikes within Yemen, targeting Houthi-controlled areas in response to the terror groups attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
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“Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen. They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones,” President Trump wrote on Saturday.
“It has been over a year since a U.S. flagged commercial ship safely sailed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aden. The last American Warship to go through the Red Sea, four months ago, was attacked by the Houthis over a dozen times. Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at U.S. aircraft, and target our Troops and Allies. 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 continued.
“The Houthis have choked off shipping in one of the most important Waterways of the World, grinding vast swatches of Global Commerce to a halt, and attacking the core principle of Freedom of Navigation upon which International Trade and Commerce depends.”
President Trump also warned Iran to “immediately end” all support for the Houthis, or be held “fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”
The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which is accompanied by the carrier, three Navy destroyers, and one cruiser were involved in Saturday’s mission.
The Houthi health ministry revealed that at least 31 people were killed, along with 101 more injured in the strikes. The health ministry added that among the dead, 13 were civilians, including four children and one woman.
The strikes were reported on Saturday evening in Sanaa and Saada, which are Houthi strongholds near the Saudi border.
President Trump’s national security advisor Michael Waltz stated that the attack “was an overwhelming response that actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out.”
Meanwhile, the Iran backed Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Following the attacks, Nasruddin Amer, the deputy head of the Houthi media office, stated that the Houthis will not be deterred by the strikes and “will remain Gaza’s shield and support and will not abandon it no matter the challenges.”
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza which began on October 7th, 2023 following the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians, the Houthis have targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two ships and killing four sailors.
Additionally, GOP Congressman Thomas Massie (R-K.Y.) has strongly criticized Trump’s attack, contending that the airstrikes in Yemen have stepped in to satisfy the military-industrial complex, replacing the role Ukraine once played as U.S. military aid to Ukraine has waned.
“Regarding U.S. activity in Yemen: I recently said to watch for a new military engagement to compensate for the pull back in Ukraine. The Military Industrial Complex demands about $50 billion a year from our government, above and beyond what’s necessary to defend our own country,” Massie wrote in an X post on Saturday.
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