The US and the UK launched further strikes against Yemen’s Houthis on Monday as part of a second round of joint military action against Iran-backed rebels, a response to ongoing attacks on Red Sea shipping.
Earlier this month, American and British forces carried out the first wave of strikes against the Houthis, with the US targeting missiles that Washington considered an imminent threat to both civilian and military vessels.
However, despite this, the Houthis vowed to continue their attacks on Israel’s allies in the Red Sea. This is just part of a growing crisis in the Middle East related to the Israel-Hamas war that risks dragging other parties, including Iran, into the conflict.
The latest strikes by the US and the UK hit “eight Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Houthis’ continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea,” the two countries declared in a joint statement.
These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners.
US Central Command added in a separate statement that the targets of the strikes “included missile systems and launchers, air defence systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities.” A senior military official stated that the strikes were carried out using precision munitions from US and British aircraft as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles.
“The targeting was very specific and… very deliberate to go after the capability that they are using to attack maritime vessels in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and Gulf of Aden. They were not intentionally selected for casualties – they were going after weapons systems.”
Yemen’s official news agency said the strikes targeted the capital Sanaa and several other parts of the country, while Houthi television reported that four strikes targeted the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital.
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis claimed to have shelled a US military cargo ship off the coast of Yemen, with their spokesman Yahya Saree arguing that they “led a military operation targeting the American military cargo ship Ocean Jazz in the Gulf of Aden” with missiles.
Yemeni rebels began striking Red Sea vessels in November, saying they were targeting Israeli-linked ships in support of Palestinians in Gaza, devastated by the Israel-Hamas war. The Houthis also declared American and British interests as legitimate targets.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 25,295 people have been killed since the war broke out. The deaths sparked widespread resentment across the region and triggered violence involving Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
