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U.S. Central Command late Sunday said it was continuing to attack Houthi militants in Yemen. Photo courtesy of U.S. Central Command/X
U.S. Central Command late Sunday said it was continuing to attack Houthi militants in Yemen. Photo courtesy of U.S. Central Command/X

March 17 (UPI) — Fighting between the United States and Iran-backed Houthi militants appeared to intensify on Sunday, after the U.S. military killed more than 50 people in Yemen with airstrikes a day prior.

In a brief online statement, U.S. Central Command said late Sunday: “CENTCOM forces continue operations against Iran-backed Houthis terrorists…”

It came after the Houthis claimed to have twice attacked a U.S. aircraft carrier in retaliation for the dozens of U.S. airstrikes in Yemen a day before.

The U.S. military on Saturday had attacked the militant group at the order of President Donald Trump.

On Sunday, Anis al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-led Yemen health ministry, said in a statement that 53 people, including five children and two women, were killed in the U.S. attack of 47 airstrikes on Yemen.

Ninety-eight people, including nine children and nine women, were also injured, he said.

The Houthis had vowed to retaliate, and on Sunday claimed they had twice targeted the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea with drones and missiles in the last 24 hours, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.

Saree had earlier said the first strike consisted of 18 ballistic and cruise missiles. It was unclear how many munitions were used in the second.

It was also unclear if any of the Houthi strikes hit the carrier, which was involved in the Saturday attack on Yemen.

The Houthis have maintained a military blockade of the Red Sea trade route, attacking transiting vessels, including U.S. military ships, in response to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Though the fighting in the Palestinian enclave has stopped due to a fragile cease-fire, the Houthi military last week said it would resume the blockade of Israeli vessels “until the crossing to the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid, food and medicine are allowed in.”

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was suspending goods and supplies into Gaza on accusations that Hamas, another Iran-backed militia, “steals the supplies and prevents the people of Gaa from getting them.”

“It uses these supplies to finance its terror machine, which is aimed directly at Israel and our civilians — and this we cannot accept,” he said, without providing proof.

“We will take further steps if Hamas continues to hold our hostages.”

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