U.S. Airstrikes Escalate: Kamaran Island Hit as Yemen Becomes Battlefield Once Again
The Trump administration resumes major military operations in Yemen, targeting Houthi-controlled territories with airstrikes on key provinces, including the strategic Kamaran Island.
Watan-On Sunday evening, U.S. warplanes carried out four airstrikes on Kamaran Island in Yemen’s western coastal province of Al-Hudaydah. Earlier in the day, Al-Masirah TV, affiliated with the Houthi movement, reported that five U.S. airstrikes had already targeted the same island, bringing the total number of airstrikes on Kamaran today to nine. The channel did not provide further details on the results of the bombing, and there was no immediate American comment. Kamaran is the largest Yemeni island in the Red Sea.
On Friday evening, former U.S. President Donald Trump posted a video on his X account showing one of the recent U.S. airstrikes targeting Houthi fighters. Trump commented on the video, saying:
“These Houthis gathered to receive instructions for an attack… Sorry, there will be no attacks from these Houthis. They won’t be sinking our ships again.”
On March 15, the Trump administration launched its military campaign against Yemen, conducting airstrikes targeting provinces under the control of the Houthis. The American assault came just four days after the group announced the resumption of military operations in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait. This followed the expiration of a deadline set by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi for mediators to convince Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza.
Operation Rough Rider: U.S. Expands Strikes Across Houthi-Controlled Yemen
The U.S. air campaign—named “Operation Rough Rider” by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—was a direct response to President Trump’s policy stance just two days after taking office on January 20. That policy designated the Houthis as a “global terrorist organization.” The Trump administration outlined two objectives for the strikes on Yemen: restoring freedom of navigation and reasserting American deterrence, with Hegseth emphasizing that “we have no involvement in Yemen’s civil conflict.”
In terms of scale, nature, targets, and intensity, the current U.S. strikes exceed those carried out under the previous Biden administration, which had launched limited attacks as part of an international coalition starting early last year. The current campaign focuses on two main fronts: destroying the Houthis’ military infrastructure and targeting their leadership.
Most U.S. airstrikes so far have concentrated on three key provinces critical to the Houthis politically, militarily, and economically:
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Sanaa (the political capital),
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Saada in the north (the group’s main stronghold),
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and Al-Hudaydah on the western coast (their economic lifeline).
Other provinces targeted include Amran, Dhamar, Hajjah, Taiz, Ibb, Marib, Al-Jawf, and Al-Bayda, meaning the U.S. strikes have covered nearly the entire Houthi-controlled geography.
Since November 2023, the Houthi movement has launched ballistic missiles, drone strikes, and naval operations against Israeli, American, and British vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea. They have also targeted Israeli sites in the occupied Palestinian territories in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
