![Thousands of people gather in Al-Sabeen Square in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, led by the Houthis, to protest against the attacks on the country, on March 17, 2025 in Yemen. [Mohammed Hamoud - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AA-20250317-37369334-37369324-HOUTHILED_ANTIUS_DEMONSTRATIONS_IN_YEMEN.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The United States intensified strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, this year, to stop attacks on Red Sea shipping, but rights activists have raised concerns over civilian casualties.
Here are some facts about the US campaign and a list of some of the biggest strikes.
What is behind the US strikes?
The Houthis began launching their attacks on shipping routes in November 2023 as a show of support for Palestinians and Hamas over the war in Gaza.
The group, which has controlled most of northern Yemen since 2014, has also launched missiles and drones towards Israel, though most of these have been downed.
Under Joe Biden’s administration, the United States and Britain retaliated with air strikes against Houthi targets in an effort to keep open the crucial Red Sea trading route – the path for about 15 per cent of global shipping traffic.
READ: UAE, Saudi Arabia deny reports of involvement in talks about land offensive in Yemen
After Donald Trump became US President in January, he decided to significantly intensify air strikes against the Houthis. The campaign came after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden.
Washington has pledged to continue its attacks on the Houthis until they cease assaults on Red Sea shipping. Those attacks had disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route on longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
The US air campaign in Yemen follows years of strikes by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, which targeted the Houthis, with US help, as part of its efforts to support government forces in the country’s civil war.
How have the strikes unfolded?
15 March, 2025: As Trump orders the start of a military campaign, strikes on Sana’a kill at least 31 people.
16 March, 2025: Strikes continue, targeting Houthi military sites in the south-western city of Taiz.
17 March, 2025: Death toll rises to 53, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry, with attacks expanding to targets in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah. The Pentagon says the initial wave of strikes targeted over 30 sites, including training sites and senior Houthi drone experts.
19 March, 2025: Strikes hit targets across Yemen, including northern Saada province, the long time heartland of the Houthi groups.
20 March, 2025: Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reports at least four US strikes on Hudaydah’s port district.
17 April, 2025: Strike hits Ras Isa fuel terminal on the Red Sea coast, killing at least 74 people, the deadliest attack since the US started its campaign.
28 April, 2025: Al Masirah television reports at least 68 dead from a US strike on a migrant detention centre in Saada.
READ: Yemen’s Houthis reject US offer for mutual cessation of attacks
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