Houthi militants warned on Friday that the US and UK would pay a “heavy price” for attacking more than a dozen targets in Yemen – and vowed to continue targeting ships bound for ports in Israel.
In a recorded speech, Houthi military spokesman Brig. General Yahya Saree said 73 strikes hit five Yemeni provinces under their control Thursday — killing at least five people and wounding six others.
“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unpunished,” he said.
Senior Houthi official Hussein al-Ezzi added in Google translate post on X“America and Britain must be prepared to pay a heavy price and bear all the ill consequences of this blatant aggression.”
Mohammed Abdul-Salam, chief negotiator and spokesman for the Iran-funded group, described the US and Britain as “fooling themselves with this treacherous invasion.
The chief negotiator and spokesman for the Iran-funded group described the US and Britain as “committing folly with this treacherous invasion.” via REUTERS Houthi terrorists said the US and UK would pay a “heavy price” for attacking more than a dozen targets in Yemen on Thursday. Getty Images
“They are wrong if they think that they will prevent Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,” he said, vowing that the group would continue to target “Israeli ships or those heading to occupied Palestinian ports.”
But over the past few weeks, Islamic extremist groups have targeted ships that have little or no connection to Israel.
Their activities brought land trade in the region to a standstill and caused some of the world’s largest shipping companies to cease operations in the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade passes.
US and UK forces attacked five Yemeni provinces under Houthi control on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding six others. AP
The US-UK attack was of “significant scale,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“I mean, almost 20 drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles,” he said at a press briefing on Friday.
The US-UK joint strike was intended as a “direct response” to this maritime attack, President Biden said in a statement.
“These attacks have endangered US personnel, civilian seafarers, and our partners, affected commerce, and threatened freedom of navigation,” he said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke out for the first time since being admitted to a secret hospital to warn of “further costs” if Houthi terrorists do not stop attacking ships in the Red Sea.
Thursday’s joint US-UK strike on Yemen was intended as a “direct response” to the group’s attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea. SkyNews
“Today’s coalition action sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will bear the cost if they do not end their illegal attacks,” he said in a statement.
“The United States maintains its right to self-defense and, if necessary, we will take follow-up action to protect US forces,” he added.
“We will not hesitate to defend our forces, the global economy and the free flow of legitimate trade on one of the world’s most important waterways.”
Already on Friday, hundreds of people gathered for a rally chanting, “God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.” Reuters
But Yemeni analysts said the attack would only strengthen the Houthis’ popularity in the region and their support for the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which started the war with Israel by launching a sneak attack on the Jewish state on October 7, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians. .
Hundreds of people in Yemen gathered on Friday for a rally chanting, “God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.”
British analyst Hannah Porter, who works for the ARK Group, said it was the terrorists’ goal to prompt American and British forces to respond, according to the New York Times.
“This is not a miscalculation by the Houthis,” he told the outlet. “They hope to see an expanded regional war, and they are eager to be on the front lines of that war.”
Abdullah Baabood, a scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center, told the Times that the group had “calculated that there are not many valuable targets” in Yemen, because “the country is already destroyed” and would use that advantage to “keep testing the situation and escalate the conflict.”
The Houthis have been known for their hostility towards the US and Israel and their support for Palestine.
US allies Qatar and Oman have privately warned America that bombing the group will not ease any tensions, The Times said.
But White House spokesman Andrew Bates said at a press briefing on Friday that the Houthis “endanger freedom of navigation” and “must stop their reckless behavior, which has unfairly harmed many countries, including ours,” in relation to oil prices.
Moreover, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which continues to attack Israeli forces on the Jewish state’s northern border, also issued a statement saying it “strongly condemns[ed] the outright American-British aggression,” which he said “confirms once again that the US is a full partner in the tragedy and genocide perpetrated by the Zionist enemy in Gaza and the region.
“It is the one that continues to support the machine of killing and destruction, and to cover up its aggression and crimes and attacks on all those who support the oppressed Palestinian people throughout the region,” the terrorist group said, according to the Guardian. .
Iranian officials also released a statement saying the attack “is a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a violation of international law.”
“These attacks will only contribute to insecurity and instability in the region,” they warned.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
