SANAA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- In a market in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, Ali Mutahar hurried to buy his daily necessities before nightfall, fearing a new wave of U.S. airstrikes on northern Yemen was coming.

The U.S. airstrikes began Saturday evening, targeting dozens of locations including residential buildings across the capital Sanaa and some northern provinces. The bombardment lasted till early Sunday morning as U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to expand the air raids for weeks.

"Trump ordered the airstrikes on Yemen, targeting and destroying several residents' houses and killing dozens of Yemeni families along with their children in the past 24 hours," Mutahar, a father of two, told Xinhua.

"The U.S. military was striking residential buildings ... I wonder where are the human rights that the U.S. has been boasting about through Western media," Mutahar lamented.

"We can't sleep ... my daughters can't sleep ... we all stayed awake hiding under a table in a small room," the father said, describing the air attacks as loudly violent that shook houses and smashed windows.

The death toll has increased to 53, including five children and two women, with 98 others wounded, including 18 children and women, according to a statement from Yemen's Health Ministry. Rescue operations were underway to search for those who are still trapped under the rubble of destroyed houses.

Some local residents filmed destroyed houses and posted the videos on social media.

The injured, including women and children, were still lying in beds in hospitals to receive treatment. Many of them were in critical condition, suffering from heavy burns and injuries from shrapnel fragments.

In the Geraf neighborhood in northern Sanaa, many families were seen packing their belongings and leaving the city amid life-threatening bombardments.

Besides the capital Sanaa, the U.S. airstrikes also targeted some areas in the provinces of Sanaa, Saada, al-Bayda, Hajjah, Dhamar, Marib and al-Jawf.

It was the first military operation conducted by the U.S. military against the Houthi group since Trump assumed power in January and redesignated the group as a "foreign terrorist organization."

During the airstrikes on Saturday night, Trump posted on social media Truth Social that the aerial attacks on the "terrorists' bases, leaders, and missile defenses were to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore navigational freedom."

Trump also warned the Houthis that if they do not stop their attacks, "starting today... Hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before."

The U.S. Central Command posted footage on social platform X showing that fighter jets took off from a U.S. aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea.

In response, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi vowed to launch retaliatory attacks.

"We will respond to the American enemy by launching missile attacks and targeting its warships and naval vessels," the leader said in a televised speech aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

The U.S. air attacks came after the Houthi group announced on March 11 that it would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait until the crossings of the Gaza Strip are reopened and humanitarian aid is allowed in.

Since November 2023, the Houthi group has launched dozens of drone and rocket attacks against Israel-linked ships and Israeli cities to show solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Houthis stopped their attacks on Jan. 19, when a three-phase Gaza ceasefire deal took effect.

In the street of Sanaa, youths were outraged about the U.S. bombing.

"America is fighting peace in the Middle East," Al-Hassan Al-Alawi, a university student, told Xinhua. "If Trump thinks that his military's airstrikes on the Yemeni cities and civilians will force us to kneel and prevent our voices from rising to demand the lift of Gaza siege and the entry of humanitarian aid, then it's mistaken." Enditem

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