US and Britain strike Houthi rebel targets in Yemen after surge in shipping attacks
WASHINGTON — The US and Britain struck 13 Houthi targets in several locations in Yemen on Thursday in response to a recent wave of attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, three US officials said.
U.S. and British fighter jets and U.S. ships hit a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi ship and other facilities, officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide early details of an ongoing military operation.
Also hit by the US were eight unmanned aerial vehicles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, which were determined to pose a threat to US and coalition forces.
The Houthis’ Al Masirah satellite news said at least two people were killed and 10 others injured in one of the attacks, which hit a radio building in the Red City port of Hodeida. Footage was broadcast of a bloodied man being carried down the stairs and others being treated at a hospital. Other attacks took place outside the rebel-held capital Sanaa and elsewhere in the country, with little other information released – likely indicating that Houthi military sites had been hit.
The attacks came a day after a US MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed in Yemen, and the Houthis released footage they said showed the aircraft being attacked with a surface-to-air missile in a desert area of Yemen’s central Marib province . It was the third such downturn this month alone.
Also earlier this week, rocket attacks twice damaged a Greek-owned Marshall Islands-flagged ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, with a private security firm saying radio traffic suggested the ship had taken on water after being hit. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is the fifth time that US and British forces have conducted a combined operation against the Houthis since January 12. But the US also carries out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships. as well as weapons ready to launch.
The American F/A-18 fighter jets were launched from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, officials said. Other US warships in the region also took part.
The Houthis have stepped up attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in recent months and are demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza that has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.
The Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on shipping since November, seizing one ship and sinking another, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Shipping through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden has decreased due to the threat.
US warships have meanwhile taken out a number of missile launchers and drones targeting ships in the region in the past week.
President Joe Biden and other senior leaders have repeatedly warned that the US will not tolerate Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. But the counterattacks do not appear to be easing the Houthis’ campaign against shipping in the region.
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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed.