U.S., UK destroy 18 Houthi targets

Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand gave unspecified support to the new round of strikes

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — American and British forces carried out a fresh wave of strikes Saturday against 18 Houthi targets across eight locations in Yemen, including weapons storage facilities, attack drones, air defense systems, radars and a helicopter, a joint statement said.

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s targeted “several very long-range drones, used by the Houthis for both reconnaissance and attack missions,” on Saturday, at a site northeast of Sanaa.

Houthi-run Al-Masirah television reported “a series of raids on the capital Sanaa,” while Agence France-Presse correspondents in the rebel-controlled city in western Yemen said they heard several loud bangs.

Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand gave unspecified “support” to the new round of strikes, the second this month and fourth since the rebels began their attacks on ships in the region.

The strikes followed weeks of unrelenting attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Iran-backed rebels.

“The Houthis’ now more than 45 attacks on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response,” the group said in a statement.

“The United States will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said in a separate statement after the strikes.

“We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that they will bear the consequences if they do not stop their illegal attacks, which harm Middle Eastern economies, cause environmental damage, and disrupt the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen and other countries.”

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree was defiant, vowing in a social media statement that the rebels would “confront the American-British escalation with more qualitative military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arab Seas.”

The Houthis say they are targeting Israel-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.

Earlier on Saturday, US Central Command announced that an American Navy vessel had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile “launched into the Gulf of Aden from Iranian-backed Houthi controlled areas of Yemen.”