On Thursday (11th January), the United States and the United Kingdom carried out military strikes on a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen. The development comes months after the Iran-backed radical Islamist outfit targeted international commercial ships including a US ship in the Red Sea.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden said, “Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.”
“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history. These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” he further added.
Targeting factories of drones and anti-ship ballistic missiles…US & UK strike 10 key Houthi targets @AlAinNews
— حسن سجواني 🇦🇪 Hassan Sajwani (@HSajwanization) January 12, 2024
pic.twitter.com/Ouasp1FZKg
Reportedly, there have been 27 attacks on international commercial ships by the Houthi movement, affecting more than 50 nations. The US President informed that the Houthis had taken crews belonging to more than 20 nations as hostages.
The series of attacks resulted in the diversion of over 2000 ships in the Red Sea. The United States and the United Kingdom reportedly carried out air and naval strikes at anti-ship missile and drone factories in Yemen, controlled mostly by the Houthi movement.
As per reports, the US-led coalition attacked military bases near Saana airport, Taiz airport and in Hajjah governorate. Additionally, a Houthi naval base was attacked in Hodeidah. Houthis confirmed the attacks and dubbed them as ‘American-Zionist-British aggression.’
As a result of the Houthi sanction system 95% of container ships have been rerouted from the Red Sea to take the long way round. pic.twitter.com/fw1b45vmIr
— Marc Maiden (@Aphelion_1) January 8, 2024
In his statement on Thursday (11th January), Joe Biden emphasised, “Today’s defensive action follows this extensive diplomatic campaign and Houthi rebels’ escalating attacks against commercial vessels.”
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 in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes,” he added.
“I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” the US President emphasised.
"The Houthis have taken more than 25 hostages from the ships that they've seized"
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 10, 2024
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken updates reporters on his diplomatic trip of the Middle East before leaving Bahrain
Israel-Hamas war latest: https://t.co/P3CSzL2j6R
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/7h7ZvTfBhO
Additionally, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated that more than 25 ship crew have been taken hostage by the Houthi movement.
The Houths have been fighting a civil war since 2014 against Yemen’s government. The govt is getting help from a coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but the Houthis enjoy domestic support and the assistance of Iran and Hezbollah.
They declare themselves to be part of the Iranian-led “axis of resistance” against Israel, the US and the wider West. It considers itself to be an ally of Hamas and Hezbollah.
