This handout image released by US Central Command (CENTCOM) via X (formerly Twitter) on March 15, 2025 shows CENTCOM forces launching an operation against Huthi targets across Yemen. (Photo by US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)
Sanaa: The first US strikes against Yemen's Huthis since President Donald Trump took office in January killed at least 21 people, the group said Sunday, as Washington warned Iran to stop backing the group.
The Huthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, said children were among those killed by the intense barrage of strikes.
An AFP photographer in the capital Sanaa heard three explosions and saw plumes of smoke rising from a residential district, and strikes were also reported in Yemen's northern Saada region, a Huthi stronghold.
"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 the strikes on 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.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which posted images of fighters taking off from an aircraft carrier and a bomb demolishing a building compound, said "precision strikes" were launched to "defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation".
There was no immediate comment from British authorities.
Trump, in a post on social media, vowed to "use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective", citing the Huthis' threats against Red Sea shipping.
