US and UK jets hit 18 Houthi sites

Commander of Irish fighters’ vow after Avdiivka blow

AMERICAN and British fighter planes carried out air strikes on 18 Houthi sites in Yemen this weekend.

It was the fourth joint operation and more are expected in future due to ongoing attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The allies revealed the “necessary and proportionate strikes” hit 18 sites across eight locations.

They said the targets were associated with Houthi underground weapons and missile storage, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defence systems, radars and a helicopter.

Threat

In a joint statement, it was said that the precision strikes were intended to “disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, naval vessels, and the lives of innocent mariners in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”

The statement added that the Houthis’ attacks on commercial and naval vessels “constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response”.

IRISH soldiers fighting in an area in Ukraine that Russia seized in the past week have vowed to fight “to the end” despite the setback, their commander told The Star.

Ryan O’Leary heads the Chosen Company battalion that was forced to pull back from Avdiivka in the east in the past week after Moscow’s army seized the ruins of the city.

It came after a bloody battle for months that left a reported 17,000 Russian soldiers slain as the Kremlin ordered waves of its men into Ukraine’s frontline in a “meat grinder” tactic.

Kyiv’s side also suffered untold losses including Chosen Company fighter Dubliner Graham Dale (45) who was slain on the outskirts of the eastern city in December.

Vicious

But commander O’Leary said Dale didn’t “die for nothing” because the huge death toll of Russian fighters means Moscow’s army is depleted in the east and can’t advance for months.

Former US Marine Dale’s death in the vicious war meant he was the third Irish man to be slain in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after Rory

Mason and Finbar Cafferkey were also killed.

Russia’s brutal invasion now dragged into its third year last Saturday but O’Leary said the some 100 men in

Chosen Company have vowed to fight “to the end”.

The fighters include four Irish soldiers, from both the Republic and the North – aged from 22 to 48 – all of whom have served in the British army, O’Leary said.

One of the Irishmen is currently in rehab after he lost an eye in a mortar attack but is “in good spirits” and gunning to return to the frontline.

The move provides propaganda for Russian President

Vladimir Putin as he again runs for presidential elections next month which he is expected to easily win.

Despite Russia’s victory in Avdiivka, O’Leary said Dubliner Graham Dale didn’t “die for nothing” when he was slain there on December 8 as he charged at Russian troops.

“I don’t think he died for nothing, so the area, we were on the like southern area of Avdiivka, we’re still holding

most of that,