Yemen’s Houthis said they launched a missile strike on a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea in response to deadly US and British strikes on Yemen, Reuters reports.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised statement that the strike was a response to the ongoing bombardment of Yemen and the “oppression of the Palestinian people.” He also noted:
“The hit was direct and accurate thanks to Allah.”
US and British armed forces said they struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday to prevent the militant group from further disrupting shipping in the Red Sea.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the joint operation hit three sites in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which it said contained drones and surface-to-air weapons. The ministry said:
“As ever, the utmost care was taken in planning the strikes to minimise any risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure. Conducting the strikes in the hours of darkness should also have mitigated yet further any such risks.”
Six US and British strikes killed 16 people and wounded 41, including civilians, Saree said.
Houthis will “meet escalation with escalation”
Meanwhile, Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said on X, warning that the rebels would “meet escalation with escalation”:
“The American-British aggression will not prevent us from continuing our military operations in support of Palestine.”
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam also said the strikes were a “brutal aggression” against Yemen as punishment for supporting Gaza.
In Tehran, Houthi-allied Iran condemned the strikes as “violations of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, international laws and human rights”, Iranian state media reported. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said:
“The aggressor US and British governments are responsible for the consequences of these crimes against the Yemeni people.”
The Houthis, who control the capital and Yemen’s most populous areas, have attacked international ships in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas, leading to retaliatory strikes by the US and Britain since February.
