DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Suspected U.S. airstrikes battered rebel-controlled areas of Yemen into Wednesday, with the Houthis saying one strike killed at least four people near the Red Sea port city of Hodeida.
The intense campaign of airstrikes under President Donald Trump, targeting the rebels over their attacks on shipping in Mideast waters stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, has killed at least 65 people, according to casualty figures released by the Houthis.
The campaign appears to show no signs of stopping as the Trump administration again linked their airstrikes on the Iranian-backed Houthis to an effort to pressure Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. While so far giving no specifics about the campaign and its targets, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt put the overall number of strikes on Tuesday at over 200.
“Iran is incredibly weakened as a result of these attacks and we have seen they have taken out Houthi leaders,” Leavitt said. “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.”
The Houthis have not acknowledged the loss of any of its leadership so far — and the U.S. has not identified any official by name. However, messages released by the leak of a Signal conversation between Trump administration officials and their public comments suggest a leader in the rebels’ missile forces had been targeted.
Fatal strike reportedly targets Hodeida
Overnight, a likely U.S. airstrike targeted what the Houthis described as a “water project” in Hodeida governorate’s Mansuriyah District, killing four people and wounding others. Other strikes into Wednesday targeted Hajjah, Saada and Sanaa governorates, the rebels said.
The rebels say they’ve continued to launch attacks against U.S. warships in the Red Sea, namely the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which is launching the majority of the strikes on the Houthis. No warship has been struck yet, but the U.S. Navy has described the Houthi fire as the most intense combat its sailors have faced since World War II.
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, now in Asia, is on its way to the Mideast to back up the Truman. Early Wednesday, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said “additional squadrons and other air assets” would be deployed to the region, without elaborating.
That likely includes the deployment of nuclear-capable B-2 bombers to Camp Thunder Bay on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Satellite photos taken Tuesday by Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press showed at least six B-2s at the base — nearly a third of all the bombers in America’s arsenal.
The U.S. has used the B-2 in Yemen in the past to attack underground Houthi bases. The B-2 likely would need to be used if America ever tried to target Iran’s underground nuclear sites as well.
The Houthis on Tuesday claimed shooting down another American MQ-9 drone over the country.
Intense US bombings began March 15
An Associated Press review has found the new American operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden, as the U.S. moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel and dropping bombs on cities.
The new campaign of airstrikes started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels have loosely defined what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted.
The Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none has been hit.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decadelong stalemated war, which has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.
