WASHINGTON, United States: The United States and Britain launched airstrikes against Yemen’s Huthi rebels Thursday over the Iran-backed group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, US media reported.
The strikes, which follow a number of warnings by Western allies, involved fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles, several US media said. US officials did not immediately confirm the reports.
According to international media, the US and British militaries were bombing more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.
The military targets included logistical hubs, weapons storage locations and air defense systems.
Journalists in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, heard four explosions early Friday local time but saw no sign of warplanes. The strikes marked the first US military response to drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas in Gaza.
The coordinated military assault comes just a week after the White House and a host of partner countries issued a final warning to the Houthis to cease the attacks or face potential military action.
On Tuesday, the Houthi rebels fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, with US and British ships and American fighter jets responding by shooting down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile. And on Thursday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was seen by a commercial ship but did not hit it. —AFP/ Monitoring
