SANAA – The Yemeni Houthi group vowed Saturday to respond to a US-UK attack that targeted a residential area in Sanaa, resulting in casualties.
The Houthi Political Bureau described the strikes as a “treacherous and sinful act of aggression and a full-fledged war crime.”
“Targeting civilians is further proof of American terrorism against nations and peoples that oppose it,” it said in a statement. “US-UK aggression was carried out in response to Yemen’s support for the Palestinian people, but it will not deter Yemen from continuing its backing for Palestine and fulfilling its duty to support Gaza.”
The Houthis warned that the “aggression will not go unanswered, and our armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation.”
At least nine people were killed and nine others injured in the airstrikes that targeted the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, the Houthis said Saturday, as US President Donald Trump announced major air raids against the group.
Trump said he ordered the military to launch “powerful” and “decisive” action against the Houthis.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Witnesses told Anadolu that airstrikes also hit the Geraf neighborhood in northern Sanaa, resulting in powerful explosions.
The death toll from Saturday night’s US-UK airstrikes on multiple Yemeni cities has risen to 31, with 101 others injured, mostly women and children, the Houthi-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday.
Anis Al-Asbahi, the ministry’s spokesperson, stated: “The massacres committed by the US aggression targeting civilian and residential areas in Sanaa, Saada, Al-Bayda, and Rada’a on Saturday resulted in 132 civilian casualties, including 31 martyrs and 101 wounded, most of whom are children and women.”
He added that the figures are “preliminary, as search efforts continue to recover victims following a series of US airstrikes targeting civilian sites.”
Asbahi condemned the attacks, calling them a “full-fledged war crime added to the record of the criminal coalition of evil” and a “blatant violation of all international laws and conventions.”
On Saturday, the Iran-backed Houthi group announced that US-UK airstrikes on Yemen killed 24 people, with at least 23 others wounded.
The Houthis warned Israel on March 7 to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip within four days or face renewed maritime operations against Israeli-linked vessels.
The US launched airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthis as President Donald Trump warned that “hell will rain down” if the Iran-backed group continues attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The Houthis have been attacking Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones since late 2023, disrupting global trade, for what it said was a show of solidarity with the Gaza Strip.
The group halted attacks when a Gaza ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and Hamas. But it threatened to resume the attacks when Israel blocked all aid into Gaza on March 2. -AA
