Starting from 18 March 2025, the US imperialists have renewed their bombing of Yemen, a country of about 40 million people in West Asia. In striking at Yemen, the Trump administration is following in the footsteps of five successive US administrations that have repeatedly bombed Yemen, destroyed its infrastructure, killed lakhs of people, and made millions more suffer due to blockades of medicine, food and other vital supplies.
Why have the US imperialists so persistently targeted Yemen since 2015? This is because Yemen is a thorn in the flesh of the imperialists who want to completely dominate the region and who want a free hand to suppress the Palestinian people in collaboration with the Israeli state. They are punishing the people of Yemen who, led by the Houthis, revolted against the imperialist-backed regime of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and took a clear stand against imperialist interference in their region.
In addition, Yemen is a country rich in oil and gas resources, and is also very strategically located adjoining the vital trade and shipping route through the Red Sea. It is intolerable to the US imperialists and their allies that Yemen be led by political forces that consistently and actively oppose them and their warmongering activities.
After Israel began its US-backed genocide in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis came to the aid of the Palestinian people by attacking ships belonging to Israel or its allies in the Red Sea. They made it very clear that this would continue only as long as Israel continued its genocide. When a brief ceasefire came into effect in January, the Houthis called off their attacks on Israeli shipping. But, as soon as Israel made it clear in March that it was not going to extend the ceasefire and resumed its bombing and blockade campaign against the Palestinians with even greater ferocity, the US state under Trump swung into action and began bombarding Yemen to support the Israeli criminals.
The US imperialists have not confined their bombing to military infrastructure. They have attacked civilian infrastructure, such as roads, schools, hospitals and residential areas, and have already in just two weeks caused the deaths of hundreds of people, including children.
The continuous attacks and blockade of Yemen over several years by the US imperialists have had horrific consequences for the people of Yemen. Nearly half a million have died in the fighting and due to the consequences of the war and blockade. Over six million people have been displaced. One out of every two Yemeni children — an astounding figure — is suffering from acute malnutrition which will have lifelong consequences.
It has been reported that the US is currently stockpiling deadly B2 Sprit stealth bombers to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia as part of its offensive against Yemen. It is also despatching another aircraft carrier to supplement the one already based in the Persian Gulf region. These are aimed not only at strengthening their arsenal to be used against Yemen, but also to try and intimidate and blackmail Iran which has consistently expressed its support for Yemen and the people of Palestine and denounced US imperialism’s warmongering.
However, just as they have for so many years defied the attacks of successive US and allied governments, the brave people of Yemen will continue to stand as a beacon of resistance to US imperialism. In this, they have the support of all those who stand for the peace and security of the peoples.