Daijiworld Media Network - Aden
Aden, Apr 26: The Houthi movement has accused US forces of launching more than 1,200 air raids on Yemen since mid-March, claiming the strikes have caused hundreds of civilian deaths and extensive damage to key infrastructure.
In an official statement, the Houthis' foreign affairs office condemned the attacks, alleging that US warplanes had deliberately targeted civilian areas—including homes, ports, hospitals, water reservoirs, and even historical landmarks—violating international and humanitarian laws.
The group criticized Washington’s actions, accusing the US of trying to "evade accountability for its crimes" and "conceal its ongoing aggression against the Yemeni people."
As of now, there has been no immediate response from the US government regarding these accusations, according to a report from Xinhua news agency.
US military operations in Yemen resumed on March 15, following an order from then-President Donald Trump to launch "decisive and powerful military action" against the Houthis. Trump pledged that strikes would continue until the group no longer posed a threat to freedom of navigation in the region.
In a separate development on April 22, the Houthis announced they had shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Hajjah province in northwestern Yemen. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea, speaking on Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV, said the drone was intercepted using a domestically made surface-to-air missile.
According to Sarea, this marked the seventh US drone downed by the Houthis in April alone and the 22nd since November 2023.
The Houthi spokesperson further claimed that their forces had launched new assaults on two US aircraft carriers—the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Carl Vinson—along with their escorting warships. The attacks, carried out with cruise missiles and drones, reportedly targeted the carriers operating in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
The latest escalation comes against a backdrop of intensifying regional tensions. The Houthis maintain that their military actions are acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Alongside attacks on US forces, the group has also continued operations targeting Israel and US naval assets in the Red Sea.