Yemen’s Houthi leader vows to continue targeting US warships

ANKARA

Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on Friday announced that his group's operations against American naval vessels will "continue with high effectiveness."

In a televised speech, Al-Houthi said the American aircraft carrier USS Truman "is in a constant state of pursuit, fleeing to the far north of the Red Sea."

"We will continue confronting the Americans, who are complicit with the Israeli enemy, supporting, protecting, and joining them in their aggression against Palestine and the peoples of our nation."

He pointed out that the "American airstrikes and attacks (in Yemen) sometimes exceed 90 raids per day," accusing Washington of "committing crimes and waging aggression against our country without any justification."

"Our position is directed against the Israeli enemy and the Americans, who have openly declared war on our country," Al-Houthi said, stressing that his group's fight "is for Palestine to prevent the displacement of its people and pressure for an end to their genocide."

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.