U.S. Airstrike in Yemen Kills Senior Houthi Commanders, Iranian Experts

Yemen Online

05-04-2025

A precise U.S. airstrike has killed 70 individuals, including senior Houthi commanders and Iranian Revolutionary Guard experts, in Yemen's western port city of Al-Hudaydah, according to an official statement by the Yemeni government on Friday.
The announcement—uncommon in its clarity and scope—was delivered by Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani, who detailed the operation's strategic implications and its role in disrupting Houthi plans to target vital maritime corridors in the Red Sea and beyond.
According to al-Eryani, the airstrike, carried out on Tuesday, struck a high-level Houthi gathering south of the al-Fazah coastal region in Hudaydah province.
'The strike neutralized a key operational site used to coordinate terrorist attacks on commercial vessels and oil tankers transiting the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and Gulf of Aden,' al-Eryani said. 'This posed a grave threat to international maritime security and global trade routes.'
The operation, described as 'surgical and accurate,' targeted a command center reportedly involved in orchestrating attacks against international shipping—part of a broader escalation by the Houthis in recent months that has drawn global condemnation.
Wave of U.S. Strikes Dismantles Houthi Infrastructure
The latest airstrike is part of a broader American military campaign launched on March 15, aimed at degrading Houthi military capabilities. Over the past two weeks, U.S. forces have conducted a series of concentrated aerial strikes targeting Houthi defense systems, command-and-control centers, fortified military structures, and weapon storage facilities across multiple provinces.
These operations have, according to al-Eryani, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Houthi militants, including high-ranking operatives across the group's leadership tiers.
'The precision of these strikes has severely undermined Houthi military infrastructure and sown disarray within their ranks,' he noted, adding that the group continues efforts to obscure the scale of its losses and downplay the impact on its operations.
Strategic Turning Point in Confronting the Houthis
Al-Eryani characterized the U.S. campaign as a strategic inflection point in the long-standing conflict, sending a resolute message to both the Houthis and their backers in Tehran.
'This is a decisive warning that threats to regional security and the safety of international maritime lanes will be met with firm and immediate retaliation,' he declared.
Despite the Houthis' attempts to maintain operational continuity and conceal the extent of their setbacks, reports from the battlefield suggest a growing atmosphere of confusion and disarray among the group's leadership.