The United States and the United Kingdom have bombed more than a dozen Houthi sites in Yemen, officials said, as the Yemeni rebel group stepped up its attacks on ships in the Red Sea in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.
In a joint statement on Saturday, the US and the UK said their military action hit 18 Houthi sites across eight locations in Yemen, including attacks on underground weapons and missile storage facilities, air defence systems, radars and a helicopter.
It is the fourth time the U. S. and British militaries have carried out joint attacks on the Houthis since Jan. 12.
Apart from the joint action, the US has also been carrying out almost daily raids to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles, rockets and drones targeting commercial and other navy vessels.
However, the raids have failed to prevent the Houthi attacks, which have disrupted the global industry and raised shipping rates.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the latest wave of strikes was meant “to further disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia”.
“We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that they will bear the consequences if they stop their illegal attacks, which are damaging Middle East economies, causing environmental damage and disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen and other countries,” he said. aggregate. Array
The attacks were supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
The Houthis defiant.
Yahya Saree, a spokesman for the group, vowed that the Houthis would “confront the US-British escalation with more qualitative military operations opposed to all hostile targets in the Red and Arabian Seas. “
According to a tally by The Associated Press news agency, the Houthis have launched at least 57 attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 19.
And the speed of the attacks has accelerated in recent days.
Another Houthi spokesperson claimed an attack on MV Torm Thor, a US-flagged, owned and operated chemical and oil tanker, on Saturday, saying the group targeted the vessel using a “number of appropriate naval missiles”.
US Central Command showed the attack, saying its forces shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from Houthi-controlled spaces in Yemen into the Gulf of Aden, adding that the missile was likely aimed at Torm Thor.
The tanker truck did not break down and there were no injuries, he added.
British maritime security firm UKMTO also reported another attack on an unspecified ship near the port of Djibouti on Saturday night, saying there had been an “explosion in the vicinity of the ship, no injuries were reported to the ship and there were no injuries. “”. multitude”.
“The shipment is headed to the next port of call,” he added in a bulletin.
The Houthis also claimed responsibility for an attack on a British shipment and a drone attack on a U. S. destroyer last week and said they had also targeted the Israeli port and hotel in the city of Eilat with ballistic missiles and drones.
No ships have been sunk nor crew killed during the Houthi campaign.
However, considerations remain about the fate of the UK-registered Rubymar shipment that attacked on 18 February and its equipment was evacuated. The U. S. military said the Rubymar was carrying more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it hit, which could spill into the red zone. Sea and cause an environmental disaster.
The turmoil from Israel’s war on Gaza has also spilled over to other parts of the Middle East.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has traded fire with Israel along the Israel-Lebanon border and pro-Iran Iraqi militia have attacked bases that host US forces.