2024-01-13 01:51:00
The United States carried out more bombings against Houthi towns in Yemen on Friday night, a day after launching a coordinated multinational attack against nearly 30 Houthi positions.
According to US media reports, the attacks targeted, among others, a radar installation used by the Houthis.
A day earlier, the United States and the United Kingdom began an offensive after numerous attacks by rebel groups on shipping in the Red Sea.
Thursday’s strikes marked the first U.S. military response against the Houthis for what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks against commercial ships since the start of the war in Israel and are a sign of growing international alarm about the threat. to one of the most critical waterways in the world.
How have the US and UK attacks against Houthis been?
The U.S. and British militaries have used Tomahawk missiles launched from warships and fighter jets in attacks, several U.S. officials told the Associated Press.
Military targets include logistics centers, air defense systems and weapons storage sites, they said.
The Associated Press noted that the United States and Britain have bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen in what is described as a massive retaliatory attack.
A series of warnings from an international coalition to stop the attacks
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council passed a resolution last Wednesday demanding the Houthis immediately cease attacks and implicitly condemning their arms supplier, Iran. It was approved by 11 votes to 0 with four abstentions: Russia, China, Algeria and Mozambique.
Britain’s involvement in the attacks underscored the Biden administration’s effort to use a broad international coalition to fight the Houthis, rather than appearing to go it alone. More than 20 countries are already participating in a US-led maritime mission to increase ship protection in the Red Sea.
For weeks, U.S. officials had refused to signal when international patience would run out and they would strike back at the Houthis, even as multiple commercial vessels came under attack by missiles and drones, prompting companies to consider diverting their ships.
However, on Wednesday US officials again warned of the consequences.
The Biden administration’s reluctance in recent months to retaliate reflected political sensitivities and was largely driven by broader concerns about upsetting the fragile truce in Yemen and triggering a broader conflict in the region. The White House wants to preserve the truce and has been cautious about taking steps in Yemen that could open another front of war.
Why the Houthis have attacked commercial ships
The Houthis have carried out dozens of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea since late November and say they aim to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Most of the ships attacked have no connection to Israel.
“The response to any American attack will not be only at the level of the operation that was carried out recently with more than 24 drones and several missiles,” Abdel Malek al-Houthi, the group’s supreme leader, said during an hour-long speech duration. “It will be bigger than that.”
On Tuesday, the Shiite Islamist group fired its largest barrage of drones and missiles at ships in the Red Sea, forcing U.S. and British warships and U.S. fighter jets to shoot down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile. , the episode to which al-Houthi was probably referring.
The rebels have carried out 27 attacks with dozens of drones and missiles since November 19.
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