American and British forces launched a new round of raids on 18 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, after the Iran-backed rebels had been relentlessly attacking Red Sea shipping for weeks.
A joint statement stated that the strikes “specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across eight locations in Yemen,” including air defense systems, attack drones, weapons storage facilities, radars, and a helicopter.
Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand all co-signed it, lending their vague “support” to the latest round of strikes, which is the second this month and the fourth since the rebels started attacking ships in the area.
“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 statement said.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah television reported “a series of raids on the capital Sanaa,” while AFP correspondents in the rebel-controlled city in western Yemen said they heard several loud bangs.
“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.”
Via a social media statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree vowed defiantly that the rebels will “confront the American-British escalation with more qualitative military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arab Seas.”
“Several very long-range drones, used by the Houthis for both reconnaissance and attack missions,” were the target of four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s on Saturday, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, at a location northeast of Sanaa.
The action on Saturday comes after a number of merchant ships were targeted this week in the area, including the Rubymar, which was loaded with fertilizer and whose crew was forced to abandon ship when it was hit a few days ago and started to take on water.
British maritime security agency UKMTO reported another attack on an unspecified ship near the port of Djibouti on Saturday night, saying there had been an “explosion in close proximity to the vessel, no damage is reported to the vessel and there are no injuries to the crew.”
“Vessel is proceeding to next port of call,” it added in a bulletin.
