The United States government described the airstrikes launched against the Houthis in Yemen on March 15 as an effort to deter this armed group, which controls parts of the country and had been targeting ships in the Red Sea.

According to the Houthis, the bombings killed 53 people and injured nearly a hundred. 

The Houthis began their attacks in November 2023, in support of the Palestinian group Hamas in its conflict with Israel, and since then they have struck dozens of merchant ships with missiles, drones, and small boats.

Beyond the direct damage—two ships sunk, one hijacked, and four crew members killed—these actions have severely disrupted traffic through the Suez Canal. 

Like Hamas and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the Houthis receive backing from Iran, to whom the White House also wanted to send a message with the March 15 operation.

“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at U.S. aircraft and targeted our troops and allies,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that day. He added that the Houthis’ “piracy, violence, and terrorism” had cost “billions of dollars” and endangered lives. 

Witnesses to the incident

Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, witnessed the operation from an unusual position: he had been invited into a Signal chat where senior United States officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, discussed the details of the strike.

Goldberg said he initially doubted the chat was real but continued to follow it and observed the operation unfold on March 15 while sitting in a supermarket. 

After the bombings, reports indicated that the strikes targeted Houthi leaders and aimed to weaken their military capabilities, including training centers, weapons depots, and drone command centers.

Joint Chiefs of Staff operations director, Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus G. Grynkewich, stated that the operation was precise, aimed at restoring freedom of navigation and reinforcing U.S. deterrence. 

On March 16, additional strikes targeted weapons storage and detection systems previously used to threaten maritime traffic.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell explained that the Houthis had launched missiles and attack drones at U.S. warships more than 170 times and at commercial vessels around 145 times since 2003. 

Goldberg’s revelation about the chat caused controversy in the United States, not only due to the leak but also because Signal was used instead of official secure channels for sensitive military operations. Meanwhile, Donald Trump and the White House maintained that the strikes sent a clear message to Iran, showing that threats to navigation and U.S. allies would not be tolerated.