Why is UK bombing Yemen and who are Houthi rebels?
in the Middle East haverisenafteriranian-backed Houthirebelsbeganstrikingat ships passing through the Red Sea.
On Thursday night, the UK and US struck more than a dozen sites used by the rebel group in a massive retaliatory strike after a spate of 27 attacks on shipping since November.
The Islamist group claims it began striking a narrow strip of sea between Yemen and east Africa, which is a key internationaltrade route, in a bid to end Israel’s air and ground offensive against Hamas.
Who are the Houthi rebels? The Shia militant group is allied to Tehran, as are Hamas and Hezbollah, and seeks to reduce western influence in the Middle East. Its slogan includes the words “death to America”, “death to Israel” and “a curse upon the Jews”. The group emerged in the 1990s and its supporters mainly come from the ranks of Zaidi Shia Muslims and the Houthi tribe.
It claimed former president Ali Abudllah Saleh had grown too close to Saudi Arabia and
Israel, and tensions between them grew for several years.
The death of the group’s founder, Hussein al Houthi, at the hands of the Yemeni militaryledtothehouthiinsurgency from 2004. The group later participated in the 2011 Yemeni revolution. The rebels rose to prominence after capturing Yemen’s capital Sana’a in 2014, sparking a civil war, which is estimated to have killed almost 400,000 people. They captured more territory after aligning with Mr Saleh in 2015 and now control much of western Yemen down to the Bab al Mandebstrait,a16-mile stretch of water which marks the entrance to the Red Sea.
The group’s takeoverofthecapitalprompted Saudi Arabia to intervene in abidtorestoretheinternationally recognised government, which has a Sunni majority.
Is this the first time strikes have targeted the Houthi rebels? A Saudi and UAE bombing campaign against Houthi targets was launched in 2015 and drew criticism over civilian deaths, leading to calls for the UK to cease arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Tehran has been accused of providing arms, training and financial suptensions port to the Houthis. The war has been viewed as a proxy in a wider conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Tensions rose in 2017 after the group claimed responsibility for firing a missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and they killed Mr Saleh later that year after he switched from supporting them to backing the Saudi-led coalition. The rebels have attacked Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and most recently Israel with missiles before the clashes in the Red Sea erupted.
Why have the US and UK become involved in strikes against the Houthi rebels?
US President Joe Biden said the strikes were meant to demonstrate that America and its allies“willnottolerate”themilitant group’s ceaseless attacks on the Red Sea.
The governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea joinedtheusandukinastatement saying that while the aim is to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, the allies will not hesitate to defend lives and protect commerce in the critical waterway.
Russia, however, requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the strikes.
Houthi rebels’ military facilities in Yemen have been bombed by UK and US forces