US, Britain carry out strikes against Houthis in Yemen, officials say

WASHINGTON/ADEN: The US and Britain launched strikes from the air and sea against Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the movement’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

As witnesses in Yemen confirmed explosions throughout the country to Reuters, President Joe Biden cautioned in a statement late on Thursday he would not hesitate to take further action if needed.

“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation,” Biden said.

Britain’s ministry of defence said in a statement that “early indications are that the Houthis’ ability to threaten merchant shipping has taken a blow.”

Houthis say their attacks on shipping routes in the Red Sea are a show of support for the Palestinians and Hamas.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is in hospital due to surgery complications, said in a statement that the strikes targeted Houthi capabilities including drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, costal radar and air surveillance.

A Houthi official confirmed “raids” in the capital Sanaa along with the cities of Saada and Dhamar as well as in Hodeidah governorate, calling them “American-Zionist-British aggression.”

Witnesses told Reuters that the raids targeted a military base adjacent to Sanaa airport, a military site near Taiz airport, a Houthi naval base in Hodeidah and military sites in Hajjah governorate.

FEARS OF ESCALATION

The US said Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands supported the operation, and sought to present the strikes as part of an international effort to restore the free flow of trade in a key route between Europe and Asia that accounts for about 15% of the world’s shipping traffic.

But the strikes, the first on Yemeni territory since 2016, were also an undeniable demonstration of Washington’s struggle contain the fallout Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East since its eruption in October. Although Washington said there was no intent to escalate tensions, the Houthis have vowed to retaliate to any attack.

“The concern is that this could escalate,” said Andreas Krieg at King’s College in London, warning of the risk that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could also be drawn into the confrontation.

In a statement after the strikes, Saudi Arabia called for restraint and “avoiding escalation”.

The strikes were carried out by aircraft, ship and submarine. A different US official said more than a dozen locations were targeted and the strikes were intended to weaken the Houthis’ military capabilities, as opposed to being just symbolic.

“We were going after very specific capability in very specific locations with precision munitions,” a US military official said.

The Houthi attacks have disrupted international commerce, forcing international shipping to take the long route around South Africa to avoid being struck. The increase in delivery costs is stoking fears it could trigger a fresh bout of global inflation.

Israel has launched a military assault that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, in which 1,200 people died and 240 were abducted.

ANTI-SHIP BALLISTIC MISSILES

Hours before the US and British strikes in Yemen, the US military said the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden, two days after the Houthis’ largest attack to date.

On Jan. 9, US and British naval forces shot down 21 Houthi drones and missiles fired in what the US military described as a complex attack, language reminiscent of the way it once described Taliban or Islamic State attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Biden, in his statement, said the Houthi’s Jan. 9 attack directly targeted American ships.