Trump says Houthis asked the US not to intervene in Yemen
US President Donald Trump said that Yemen’s Iran-linked Houthis had asked Washington not to interfere in the situation in Yemen. He told reporters during a visit to Dublin, Ireland, Dawn reports.
According to Trump, the Houthis contacted the United States and do not want to fight Americans or for Washington to act against them. The president also said that the situation in the region needs to be resolved.
Conversation with the Crown Prince
Trump said that he had spoken with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he called his friend. According to Axios, the crown prince called Trump twice on Thursday asking for US strikes against the Houthis, but the US president refused.
This week, the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabian oil facilities with drones and missiles. As Dawn notes, the group took control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast after a rapid offensive and the capture of three strategic islands.
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Strikes in Mocha
Yemeni government forces said they had struck the Houthis in the strategic city of Mocha on the Red Sea coast. The state agency Saba, citing government forces, reported the destruction of Houthi equipment and weapons near the city port and the deaths of group members.
Government forces spokesperson Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said that the military also attacked Houthi vehicles and fighters on the Mocha-Dhubab road, 11 kilometers from the city. He urged civilians not to use the Taiz-Mocha and Mocha-Dhubab roads.
The Houthis captured Mocha on Thursday, after which many people left for Aden, where Yemen’s internationally recognized government is based. According to sources on both sides, the group’s offensive, which began last week, has killed more than 500 people. The UN International Organization for Migration reported about 46,000 displaced people.
