According to CCTV news reports, during a speech on the evening of March 16 local time, Houthi leader Abdul Malik Houthi announced that all US aircraft carriers and warships would be considered targets for Houthi attacks.
He accused the United States of turning the seas into a battlefield, impacting international shipping routes. He warned that if the US continued its military actions against the Houthis, they would escalate their retaliatory measures.
On the same day, the Houthis claimed to have launched military strikes against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and its accompanying vessels in the Red Sea, in response to extensive airstrikes carried out by US forces targeting Houthi positions.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree stated in a press conference on the Houthi-controlled Masirah TV that since March 15, US military forces had conducted at least 47 airstrikes on Yemen, targeting the capital Sana'a and several other provinces, resulting in civilian casualties. In retaliation, the Houthis launched 18 ballistic and cruise missiles, along with a drone strike, against the USS Harry S. Truman and its fleet in the Red Sea.
Saree further warned that the Houthis would "not hesitate" to target all US warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, and would continue to impose a maritime blockade on Israel in designated operational areas (including the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait) until humanitarian aid reaches Gaza.
The Houthis currently control about one-third of Yemen's territory and a significant portion of its population, including the capital Sana'a and the strategic port city of Hudaydah on the Red Sea. Their control extends over two-thirds of the Red Sea coastline, impacting the strategically vital Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, crucial for global shipping.
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