Clashes between the United States and Iran-backed Houthi militants appeared to escalate on Sunday, following U.S. airstrikes that killed more than 50 people in Yemen the previous day.
Late Sunday, U.S. Central Command issued a brief online statement, declaring: This statement followed claims from the Houthis that they had twice attacked a U.S. aircraft carrier in retaliation for the U.S. strikes in Yemen.
The U.S. military carried out the strikes on Saturday under orders from President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, Anis al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-led Yemen health ministry, stated that 53 people had been killed in the U.S. attack, including five children and two women.
He also reported that 98 others, including nine children and nine women, sustained injuries.
The Houthis had vowed to retaliate, and on Sunday, the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, claimed they had twice targeted the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea using drones and missiles within a 24-hour period.
Saree initially reported that the first strike included 18 ballistic and cruise missiles. The number of munitions used in the second strike was not specified.
US Military and Houthi Militants Clash (Photo: AP)
It remains unclear whether any of the Houthi strikes reached the carrier, which had been involved in Saturday’s attack on Yemen.
The Houthis have continued enforcing a military blockade in the Red Sea, targeting vessels, including U.S. military ships, in response to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Although fighting in Gaza has ceased due to a fragile cease-fire, the Houthi military last week announced that it would resume blocking Israeli vessels “until the crossing to the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid, food and medicine are allowed in.”
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was suspending the flow of goods and supplies into Gaza, citing accusations that Hamas, another Iran-backed militia, “steals the supplies and prevents the people of Gaza from getting them.”
“It uses these supplies to finance its terror machine, which is aimed directly at Israel and our civilians—and this we cannot accept,” Netanyahu stated, though he did not provide supporting evidence.
“We will take further steps if Hamas continues to hold our hostages.”
