US, UK rain fire down on Houthis
SANAA: The US and Britain have launched new strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, saying their second round of joint military action against the Iran-backed militants was in response to continued attacks on Red Sea shipping.
American and British forces carried out a first wave of strikes against the rebel group earlier this month, and the US launched further air raids against missiles that Washington said posed imminent threats to both civilian and military vessels.
But the Houthis vowed to continue their attacks as tensions grow across the region over the Israel-Hamas war spreading further afield.
The US Central Command said the eight targets of the strikes “included missile systems and launchers, air defence systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities”.
A senior US military official said the strikes used a combination of precision-guided munitions from American and British aircraft, as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles.
There were no concerns about civilian casualties at the sites that were hit, the official told journalists.
“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 alMandab and Gulf of Aden. They were they were not intentionally selected for casualties; they were going after weapons systems,” the official added.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency said strikes hit the capital Sanaa and several other parts of the country, while Houthi TV outlet Al-Masirah said four strikes targeted the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, families of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza disrupted a committee hearing in the Israeli parliament, calling for more action to free them.
“You will not sit here while our children die,” the protesters shouted in the Knesset.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later met family representatives, telling them there was no “concrete” prospect of a ceasefire and hostage swap deal from Hamas.