At least 5 killed in U.S.-led strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, say Houthi officials

The United States and Britain carried out deadly strikes from the air and sea against Houthi military targets in Yemen overnight in response to the movement’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea, a regional widening of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Witnesses in Yemen confirmed explosions throughout the country, saying 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.

A Houthi military spokesperson said 73 strikes had killed five of the group’s fighters and wounded six others.

The Houthis, an armed movement that took control of most of Yemen over the past decade, have been targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandab Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea — one of the world’s busiest trade lanes — since the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas in October. The action is in support of Hamas, they say.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, described the U.S. and Britain as having “committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression.”

“They were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,” he wrote online. Houthi “targeting will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine,” he wrote.

Since the attacks began in November, however, the Houthis have begun targeting vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel.

The United States and allies have deployed a naval task force to the area to protect ships, and U.S. and British warships had shot down 21 drones and missiles on Tuesday to repel the biggest Houthi attack so far.

Multinational operation

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

“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,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement.

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

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The U.S. and U.K. carried out the operation with unspecified support from the Netherlands, Canada, Bahrain, and Australia as part of an international effort to restore the free flow of trade, according to a joint statement.

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.”

Russia condemns action

Iran, which supports armed groups around the Middle East including both the Houthis and Hamas, condemned the U.S. and British attacks.

Some nations criticized the attacks.

Russia called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday to discuss the issue, calling it an “illegal adventure” by the U.S.

“A large-scale military escalation in the Red Sea region could strike out the positive trends that have emerged recently in the Yemeni settlement process, as well as provoke a destabilization of the situation throughout the Middle East,” Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, told reporters.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday he considered the strikes a disproportionate use of force.

Saudi Arabia called for restraint and “avoiding escalation.” The Saudis have backed the opposing side in a war against the Houthis for nearly a decade, which has been in a delicate state of peace negotiations.

Key shipping route

The Houthis have defied a call by the United Nations to halt their missile and drone attacks on Red Sea shipping routes. The route, which links Europe and Asia and Africa via the Suez Canal, accounts for about 15 per cent of the world’s shipping traffic.

Some ships have opted to take the long route around southern Africa, an increase in delivery costs and time that stoked fears of a new bout of global inflation.

Tesla said on Thursday it was shutting its factory in Germany for two weeks because of delays to parts supplies arriving from Asia as a result of Red Sea unrest, the first big manufacturer to make such an announcement.

Hours before the U.S. and British strikes in Yemen, the U.S. military said the Houthis had fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden.

Israel has mounted a military assault that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, including several Canadians. More than 240 hostages were taken, with just over 100 returned in the past weeks.