‘Overwhelming lethal force’: Multiple dead after Trump orders strikes on Huthi rebels in Yemen

Donald Trump has ordered the first US strikes on Huthis rebels, vowing to “use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”.

21 people have been killed in strikes in Yemen on Saturday, Huthi rebels said, after US President Donald Trump announced an attack on the Iran-backed group.

Another nine people were wounded in the first US strikes on the Huthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, since Mr Trump took office in January.

“Nine civilians were killed and nine others were injured, most of them seriously,” the Huthis’ health and environment ministry said in a statement on their Saba news agency, reporting on strikes in the capital city of Sanaa.

A strike in the Saada region killed at least 10 people and wounded others, according to the Huthi Ansarollah website, condemning what it called “US-British aggression” and Washington’s “criminal brutality”.

A separate strike on a house in Saada’s Alshaaf district killed two people, Ansarollah said.

An AFP photographer in Sanaa heard three explosions and saw plumes of smoke coming from a residential district in the north of the rebel-held capital, Sanaa. Security forces cordoned off the area immediately.

This grab from AFPTV footage shows smoke plumes rising following bombardment on Yemen's Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on March 15, 2025. Picture: Osama Abdulrahman/AFP

Strikes hit Yemen's Huthi-held capital Sanaa on March 15, the rebels' Al-Masirah TV said. Picture: Osama Abdulrahman/AFP

The rebels’ Al-Masirah TV station said an “American-British aggression raided a residential neighbourhood in the Shuub district” in Sanaa. There was no immediate comment from British authorities.

In a post on social media, Mr Trump vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”, citing the Huthis’ threats against Red Sea shipping.

The Huthis hit back in a statement on Al-Masirah, vowing that the strikes “will not pass without response”.

“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation,” the rebels’ political bureau said.

Mr Trump also warned Iran that it must “immediately” cut support to the rebels.

The rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.

They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.

The campaign crippled the vital route, which normally carries about 12 per cent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.

Donald Trump vowed to use ‘use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective’. Picture: Mandel Ngan/AFP

‘Hell will rain down’

In response, the US has launched several rounds of strikes on Huthi targets, some with British support.

After halting their attacks when Gaza’s ceasefire took effect in January, the Huthis announced on Tuesday that they would resume them until Israel lifts its blockade of aid to the shattered Palestinian territory.

Mr Trump’s statement did not reference the dispute over Israel, but focused on previous Huthi attacks on merchant shipping.

“To all Huthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.

“Do NOT threaten the American People, their President … or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!” Earlier this month, the United States reclassified the Huthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, banning any US interaction with it.

The Huthis captured Sanaa in 2014 and were poised to overrun most of the rest of the country before a Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year.

The war has largely been on hold since a 2022 ceasefire but the promised peace process has stalled in the face of the Huthi attacks on Israel and Israel-linked shipping.

Originally published as ‘Overwhelming lethal force’: Multiple dead after Trump orders strikes on Huthi rebels in Yemen