Confirming the continuation of US raids in Yemen, Rubio said: "We are doing the world a service" by striking the Houthis.

The raids continue

The US Secretary of State said the strikes would continue until the Houthis were "unable" to continue carrying out such attacks.

Rubio added, "We will not allow people to stand by and watch missiles attacking the US Navy. That will not happen. Not under President Trump."

The United States did not announce a timeframe for the airstrikes it began in Yemen last Saturday, and US Central Command (CENTCOM) did not provide any data on the total number of raids, which the Houthis said amounted to 47.

The Houthis announced that the death toll from the US raids had risen to 53. On Sunday evening, the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, vowed to target US cargo ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for the recent US raids.

For his part, a US official said on Sunday that an American fighter jet shot down 11 Houthi drones. He added, "The US military tracked a missile launched by the Houthis that failed to fly and fell into the waters off Yemen, posing no threat." The Houthis had previously announced targeting the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.