President Trump shared drone footage of a US strike targeting a Houthi gathering.
Donald Trump, the US President, posted a video on Friday that he identified as a strike against Houthi fighters in Yemen.
The video, apparently recorded by a drone, shows a large group of people standing in an oval formation in a rural area.
A bomb drops from above, detonating and creating a large crater. In the aftermath, two vehicles are visible, but no bodies are seen.
“These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis!” the president stated. “They will never sink our ships again!”
Online commentators quickly suggested that the people in the video were actually civilians at a tribal gathering, and they shared photos of similar past gatherings in Yemen.
These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis!
They will never sink our ships again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
The Houthis control a significant portion of Yemen, including the capital city of Sanaa. The group has been attacking commercial ships in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea and launching ballistic missiles at Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The US has increased its strikes in Yemen in the past month, as Trump pledged to restore safety to navigation in the critical shipping area. “Your attacks must stop … If they don’t, hell will rain down upon you,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in March.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree reaffirmed on Friday that the group “will not abandon its religious, moral, and humanitarian duties toward the oppressed Palestinian people, regardless of the repercussions.”