ANKARA

The Houthi group in Yemen claimed on Friday to have thwarted two planned aerial American attacks on Yemen by targeting the US warships in the Red Sea, as Washington escalated its airstrikes on the poverty-stricken country.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said Houthi forces have "targeted the hostile US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and its affiliated warships in the Red Sea, using several cruise missiles and drones.

"We thwarted two aerial attacks that the enemy was preparing to launch against our country in a confrontation that was the second within the past 24 hours and lasted for several hours."

He stressed that the group "will not abandon its moral, religious, and humanitarian duties toward the oppressed Palestinian people, no matter the consequences."

There was no immediate US comment on the Houthi statement.

According to the Houthi-run Health Ministry, at least 61 civilians have been killed and 139 others injured in US airstrikes across Yemen since March 15.

Last month, US President Donald Trump said that he had ordered "decisive and powerful military action" against the Houthis and later threatened to "completely annihilate them."

The Houthis have targeted ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where more than 50,600 people have been killed in a brutal Israeli assault.

The group halted attacks when a Gaza ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas but resumed them after renewed Israeli airstrikes on Gaza last month.