US and UK launch major attack against Iran-backed Houthi rebels

The American and British armies bombed this Thursday more than a dozen sites used by the Houthis supported by Iran in Yemen, in a massive retaliatory attack using Tomahawk missiles launched from warships and fighter planes.

The military targets included logistics centers, air defense systems and weapons storage and launch sites, officials told the AP.

AP journalists in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, heard four explosions but saw no signs of fighter jets. Two Hodieda residents, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, said they heard five loud explosions hit the city’s western port area, which sits on the Red Sea and is the largest port area controlled by the Houthis.

Residents of Taiz, a southwestern city near the Red Sea, also heard explosions.

The attacks scored the first U.S. military response to what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks against commercial shipping since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.

And the coordinated military attack comes just a week after the White House and a number of partner countries issued a final warning to the Houthis. to stop attacks or face possible military action.

The warning appeared to have had at least a short-lived impact, as the attacks ceased for several days. On Tuesday, however, Houthi rebels launched their largest barrage of drones and missiles at commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and American and British ships and fighter planes responded by shooting down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and one anti-ship missile.

Yesterday the Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was spotted by a commercial vessel but missed the vessel.

The rebels, who have carried out 27 attacks with dozens of drones and missiles since November 19, They said on Thursday that any attack by US forces on their sites in Yemen would provoke a fierce military response.

“The response to any American attack will not only be at the level of the operation 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.”

The Houthis say their attacks aim to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their goals increasingly have little or no connection to Israel and endanger a crucial trade route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the Houthis to immediately cease attacks and implicitly condemning their arms supplier, Iran.

Britain’s involvement in the attacks underlined the Biden administration’s effort to use a broad international coalition to fight the Houthis, rather than appearing to act alone. More than 20 countries are already participating in a U.S.-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 retaliate against the Houthis, even as several commercial ships were attacked by missiles and drones, prompting companies to consider hijacking their vessels.

However, US officials again warned of consequences on Wednesday.

““I will not telegraph or anticipate anything that might happen.”Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters during a stop in Bahrain. He said the United States has made it clear “that if it continues as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. And I’ll leave it at that.”

The Biden administration’s reluctance in recent months to respond reflects political sensitivities and has largely been due to broader concerns about disrupt the fragile truce in Yemen and trigger a broader conflict in the region.

The White House wants to preserve the truce and has been cautious about taking measures in Yemen that could open another war front.

However, the impact on international shipping and the escalation of attacks triggered the coalition warning, signed by the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, the United States has asked the United Nations Security Council to intervene against the Houthis has warned its financier, Iran, that it must make a decision whether to continue providing support to the rebels.

The transit through the Red Sea, from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, This is a crucial sea route for global trade.

About 12% of global trade typically passes through the waterway separating Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, including oil, natural gas, grains and everything from toys to electronics.

In response to the attacks, the United States created a new maritime security mission, called Operation Prosperity Guardian, to increase security in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden. in which approximately 22 countries participate.

American warships and those of other nations regularly sail back and forth through the strait to provide protection for ships and deter attacks. The coalition has also stepped up aerial surveillance.

The decision to set up an expanded patrol operation came after three commercial ships were hit by missiles fired by the Houthis in Yemen on December 3.

The Pentagon increased its military presence in the region after the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel to dissuade Iran from expanding the war into a regional conflict, also involving the Houthis and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria .

Fountain; The associated press