2024-01-12 01:18:27
US President Joe Biden said that the strikes launched by the United States and Britain on Houthi targets in Yemen, on Friday morning, were a direct response to the group’s attacks once morest naval ships in the Red Sea, stressing that he would not hesitate to take “further measures” in the future.
Biden added in a statement that these strikes were supported by “Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands,” noting that they were “successfully carried out once morest a number of targets in Yemen that are used by the Houthi rebels to endanger navigation in one of the most important waterways in the world.”
The US President stated in his statement that the Houthi attacks affected “more than 50 countries during 27 attacks on international commercial shipping lines,” noting that “the crews of more than 20 countries were threatened, in addition to the hostages who were taken.”
Biden noted that “more than 2,000 ships had to divert thousands of miles to avoid the Red Sea, which might cause weeks of delay in product shipping dates.”
“The Houthis targeted American ships”
Biden considered that these strikes “come in direct response to the unprecedented Houthi attacks once morest international naval ships in the Red Sea, including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history.” The US military announced, on Thursday, that the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile at international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden.
Biden added in his statement that these attacks “endangered American personnel, civilian sailors, and partners, and also jeopardized trade and freedom of navigation,” noting that “on January 9, the Houthis launched their largest attack to date, when they directly targeted American ships.”
Biden pointed out in his statement that last week, the United States, along with 13 allied and friendly countries, issued an “unequivocal” warning to the Houthis that they “will bear the consequences if they do not stop their attacks.”
Biden defended these strikes, saying that they were a “defensive measure” that came following a “large-scale diplomatic campaign” and following “the escalation of Houthi attacks once morest commercial ships.”
He considered that the raids once morest the Houthis represent “a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel, or allow hostile parties to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the most important trade routes in the world,” stressing that he “will not hesitate to take further measures.” To protect “the free flow of international trade,” “as necessary.”
Commenting on the strikes, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday that the Royal Navy will continue its patrols in the Red Sea as part of the multinational Operation “Prosperity Guardian” to deter further Houthi attacks. He added that the United Kingdom will always defend freedom of navigation and the flow of trade.
Raids by aircraft, ships and submarines
American officials told Archyde.com that, early on Friday morning, the United States and Britain began launching strikes once morest targets linked to the Houthis in Yemen.
An American official indicated that “strikes once morest the Houthis were launched by combat aircraft, ships and submarines.”
An American official told CNN that the US military launched strikes once morest multiple Houthi targets in the areas they control in Yemen, noting the use of “fighter planes and Tomahawk missiles” in these strikes.
This is the first time that the United States and Britain have carried out attacks once morest the Houthis, since the group began targeting shipping lines in the Red Sea at the end of last year.
A leader in the Houthi group said that the raids targeted several Yemeni cities in the early hours of Friday morning.
Houthi leader Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada wrote on the “X” platform, “The American-Zionist-British aggression once morest Yemen is launching several raids on the capital, Sana’a, and the Hodeidah, Saada, and Dhamar governorates.”
Senior administration officials briefed the Congressional leadership on Thursday regarding American plans to strike the Houthis, according to what a source in the Capitol told CNN.
These strikes came a day following the UN Security Council voted on a draft US resolution calling for an “immediate” halt to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
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