U.S. and British forces bombed more than a dozen strongholds used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Thursday in a major retaliatory attack using warship-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, U.S. officials said. told the Associated Press.
The military targets included logistics bases, air defense systems and weapons storage areas.
US President Joe Biden said the attack was aimed at showing that the US and its allies “will not tolerate” militant attacks on the Red Sea. He said the United States and its allies took this step only after attempts at diplomatic negotiations and careful consideration.
“This attack is a direct response to unprecedented attacks by the Houthis, including the first-ever use of anti-ship ballistic missiles against international shipping in the Red Sea,” Biden said in a statement. “These attacks endanger U.S. military personnel, civilian sailors, and our partners, endanger trade, and threaten freedom of navigation.”
Biden said the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and Bahrain were supporting the operation. The New York Times, citing unnamed U.S. officials, said the support from these countries is expected to include logistics and intelligence.
Associated Press reporters in Yemen’s capital Sanaa heard four explosions early Friday local time, but there was no sign of fighter jets. Two residents of Hodieda, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, said they heard five strong explosions in the western port area of the city, the largest Houthi-controlled port city on the Red Sea. Told. The explosion was also heard by residents of the southwestern city of Taiz, near the Red Sea.
The airstrike was the first U.S. military response against the Houthis, who have carried out continuous drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the war in Israel. And this coordinated military attack comes just a week after the White House and a number of partner countries issued a final warning to the Houthis that they could face military action if they did not halt their attacks. I was disappointed. The officials confirmed the attack on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
This warning appears to have had at least a temporary impact, as the attacks stopped for several days.
But on Tuesday, Houthi rebels launched the largest ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting ships in the Red Sea, with US and British warships and US fighter jets firing 18 drones and two cruise missiles. , they responded by shooting down one anti-ship missile. . And on Thursday, the Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was seen by a merchant ship but did not hit.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a separate statement that the Royal Air Force carried out attacks targeting military facilities used by the Houthis.
He noted that armed groups have carried out a series of dangerous attacks against ships, adding: “This is unacceptable.”
Mr Sunak said the UK was “working alongside the US with non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets related to these attacks to reduce the Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping.” “I took limited, necessary and proportionate acts of self-defense.” ”
Rebel leader promises fierce response
The rebels, who have carried out 27 attacks using dozens of drones and missiles since Nov. 19, said Thursday that any U.S. attack on their strongholds in Yemen would trigger a fierce military counterattack.
The group’s supreme leader, Abdel Malek al-Houthi, said in an hour-long speech that “the response to any U.S. attack has recently been carried out using more than 24 drones and several missiles. It’s not just at the operational level.” . “It’s going to be bigger than that.”
The Houthis say their attack is aimed at stopping Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their targets have little or no connection to Israel, endangering key trade routes linking Europe with Asia and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Wednesday calling on the Houthis to immediately halt their attacks and implicitly condemning arms supplier Iran. It was approved by an 11-0 vote, with four countries abstaining: Russia, China, Algeria and Mozambique.
