Trump threatens Houthi rebels as US airstrikes pound Yemen

Trump threatens Houthi rebels that they’ll be ‘completely annihilated’ as airstrikes pound Yemen

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Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

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Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

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Yemenis stand under a street billboard displaying a picture of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

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Yemenis pass under a street billboard displaying a picture of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Arabic reads, “death to America, death to Israel”. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

By JON GAMBRELL

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday that they’ll be “completely annihilated” as American airstrikes pounded locations under their control, while further pressuring the group’s main benefactor Iran.

Strikes hit Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-held capital, as well as their stronghold of Saada in the country’s northwest on Wednesday night, the Houthi’s al-Maisrah satellite news channel reported.

It also said strikes happened overnight Tuesday, though the U.S. military has not offered a breakdown of places targeted since the airstrikes campaign began. The first strikes this weekend killed at least 53 people, including children, and wounded others.

As the strikes hit, Trump wrote on his Truth Social website that “tremendous damage has been inflicted upon the Houthi barbarians.”

“Watch how it will get progressively worse — It’s not even a fair fight, and never will be,” Trump added. “They will be completely annihilated!”

Meanwhile, Trump again warned Iran not to arm the Houthis, claiming without offering evidence that Tehran “has lessened its intensity on Military Equipment and General Support to the Houthis.”

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“Iran must stop the sending of these Supplies IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote.

Iran had no immediate response to Trump’s post.

The Islamic Republic has long armed the Houthis, who are members of Islam’s minority Shiite Zaydi sect that ruled Yemen for 1,000 years until 1962. Tehran routinely denies arming the rebels, despite physical evidence, numerous seizures and experts tying the weapons back to Iran. That’s likely because Tehran wants to avoid sanctions for violating a United Nations arms embargo on the Houthis.

The Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January this year when a ceasefire began in Gaza. The campaign also greatly raised the Houthis’ profile in the wider Arab world and tamped down on public criticism against their human rights abuses and crackdowns on dissent and aid workers.