SANAA (AFP) — The first United States strikes against Yemen’s Houthis since President Donald Trump took office in January killed at least 31 people, the rebels said Sunday, as Washington warned Iran to stop backing the group.

The Houthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, said children were among those killed by the intense barrage of strikes.

An Agence France-Presse photographer in the rebel-held capital Sanaa heard three explosions and saw plumes of smoke rising.

Attacks on the rebel-held capital Sanaa, as well as on areas in Saada, Al Bayda and Radaa killed 31 people and wounded 101, “most of whom were children and women,” Houthi health ministry spokesperson Anis Al-Asbahi said in a statment.

Trump, in a post on social media, vowed to “use overwhelming lethal force” and ordered Iran to “immediately” cut its support.

The Houthis warned that the strikes “will not pass without response,” while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the deaths and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate its foreign policy.

The Houthi Ansarollah website slammed what it called “US-British aggression” and Washington’s “criminal brutality.”

The US Central Command, which posted images of fighters and a bomb demolishing a building compound, said “precision strikes” were launched to “defend American interests, deter enemies and restore freedom of navigation.”

There was no immediate comment from British authorities.

‘Escalation with escalation’

“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation,” the rebels’ political bureau said in a statement on their Al-Masirah TV station.

The rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the US.

They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the Houthis had “attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023.”

The campaign crippled the vital route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies into a costly detour around southern Africa.

The Palestinian group Hamas, grateful for the Houthi support, hit out Saturday at the US strikes, branding them “a stark violation of international law and an assault on the country’s sovereignty and stability.”

‘Hell will rain down’

After halting their attacks when Gaza’s ceasefire took effect in January, the Houthis announced on Tuesday that they would resume them until Israel lifts its blockade of aid to the shattered Palestinian territory.

Trump’s statement did not reference the dispute over Israel, but focused on previous Houthi attacks on merchant shipping.

“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.

“Do NOT threaten the American People, their President... or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”