The US and UK have struck 13 Houthi targets across Yemen in response to a recent surge in the groupʼs attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
This was reported to the Associated Press by three American officials.
According to the officials, American and British fighter jets and American ships struck a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control posts, a Houthi ship and other objects.
The US also struck eight drones in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that posed a threat to US and coalition forces.
Other strikes were carried out outside the capital Sanaʼa, near its airport and communications equipment in the city of Taiz.
The Houthis themselves said that at least 16 people were killed and another 35 injured as a result of the airstrikes.
The strikes came after missile attacks twice damaged a Marshall Islands-flagged Greek vessel in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen earlier this week. Moreover, a private security firm reported that the ship went into the water after the impact. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack.
What is happening in the Red Sea
In the Red Sea, since November 2023, Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis have continued to attack merchant vessels allegedly linked to Israel. The Houthis claim that in this way they are waging a war against Israel and helping the struggle of the Palestinian group Hamas, which is also supported by Iran. Ships in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea, through which an important trade route passes, are under missile and drone strikes.
On January 12, the United States and Britain began a military operation against the Houthis in the Red Sea. On February 19, 2024, the European Union launched the Eunavfor Aspides maritime defense operation to restore and protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
At the end of February, the first ship sank in the Red Sea due to attacks by the Yemeni Houthis. At the beginning of March, it became known that the shipʼs crew members were killed for the first time due to an attack by the Yemeni Houthis.
In mid-March, the US held secret talks with Iran, trying to convince Tehran to use its influence on the Yemeni Houthis to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea.
On April 27, the Yemeni Houthis said they had launched a missile attack on the Andromeda Star oil tanker in the Red Sea, which was on its way from Russiaʼs Primorsk to India.