US and UK say they carried out new attacks in Yemen

USA and United Kingdom carried out new attacks in Yementhe news agency of the Houthi rebels stated early Tuesday, before the two Western powers confirmed it.

The strengths “British-Americans launch attacks in the capital Sanaa and several governorates” of the country, the Saba agency indicated in a brief alert in Arabic.

Both countries declared in a joint statement that they carried out attacks against “eight Houthi targets in Yemen, in response to continued Houthi attacks on international and commercial traffic, as well as warships transiting the Red Sea”.

The attacks ““They specifically targeted a Houthi underground storage facility and sites related to Houthi air and missile surveillance capabilities.”according to the statement.

“These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent seafarers.”accurate.

Likewise, the text added that the rebel group had carried out “a series of illegal, dangerous and destabilizing actions” since previous joint US-UK air raids.

According to the Houthis’ Al Masira channel, four attacks targeted the Al Dailami military base, north of the capital, controlled by the rebels.

Two months of attacks

The Houthis, a movement backed by Iran and which supports Palestinian Hamas in its conflict with Israel, claimed responsibility on Monday for an attack on a US military ship off the coast of Yemen.

Houthi forces “carried out a military operation targeting the US military cargo ship Ocean Jazz in the Gulf of Aden”said the movement’s spokesman, Yahya Saree.

Contacted by AFP, a US defense official described the information as “false”.

Since mid-November, the Houthis have attacked what they consider Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, disrupting maritime traffic and prompting the United States and United Kingdom to carry out retaliatory attacks.

The Houthis have since declared that American and British interests are also legitimate targets.

In addition to military action, Washington is trying to put diplomatic and financial pressure on the Houthis, and last week again called them an entity “terrorist” having removed that label shortly after President Joe Biden took office.

The rebels reiterated on Monday that they will “respond to any attack” against Yemen and will continue to “prevent Israeli ships” from crossing the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden until the end of the war in the Palestinian territory.

Yemen is just one part of the growing crisis in the Middle East linked to the war in Gaza, where Israel’s relentless bombing and ground offensive have killed at least 25,295 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

Israel’s campaign began after unprecedented Hamas attacks in October killed about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Rising tensions and violence in the Middle East – involving Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen – have stoked fears of a broader regional conflict.