The US and Britain launched strikes on more than a dozen Houthi-linked targets in Yemen Thursday – just days after Iran-backed rebels carried out their “largest attack yet” on a shipping vessel in the Red Sea, President Biden announced.
The retaliatory strikes marked the first time targeting the Houthi militants since they began their offensive in the Red Sea last year and the first strike the US has used against the Houthis in Yemen since 2016.
“This attack is in direct response to an unprecedented Houthi attack on international maritime vessels in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. .
“These attacks have endangered US personnel, civilian seafarers, and our partners, affected commerce, and threatened freedom of navigation.”
Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands offered their support to the US-British attack, Biden added.
A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters that the strikes were being carried out via aircraft, ships and submarines and were intended to be more than “merely symbolic.”
A US military jet takes off from an aircraft carrier to carry out airstrikes against Iranian-backed military targets in Yemen during an overnight offensive. via REUTERS Explosions caused by US and UK strikes are seen in Saada, Yemen. CNN
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US-British strikes were “aimed at disrupting and degrading the Houthis’ ability to harm seafarers and threaten global trade in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”
“Today’s coalition action sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will bear further costs if they do not end their illegal offensive,” Austin said, noting that the ongoing Houthi offensive has been supported by Iran.
The Yemeni capital, Sanaa, along with the cities of Saada and Dhamar and the province of Hodeidah have come under “invasion” a Houthi official confirmed in what he called an act of “American-Zionist-British aggression.”
The US and Britain began launching strikes Thursday against Houthi-linked targets in Yemen. CNN A US aircraft prepares on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier at an undisclosed location before taking off to participate in an operation against military targets in Yemen. via REUTERS
Witnesses told Reuters that the raid targeted a military base near Sanaa airport, a military base near Taiz airport, a Houthi naval base in Hodeidah and a military base in Hajjah Governorate.
Tensions in the Red Sea have risen a week since Islamic extremist groups began attacking and hijacking cargo ships passing through the vital Red Sea, a critical shipping corridor, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The Houthis claim their attack is a show of support for Hamas and have targeted 27 ships so far.
The Houthis claim their attacks are a show of support for Hamas and have targeted 27 ships so far but their targets more often than not have little or nothing to do with Israel and instead endanger a vital route through which about 12% of world trade passes.
A Houthi helicopter landed on a ship in the Red Sea last year. via REUTERS The UK Ministry of Defense shared a photo from the bridge of HMS Diamond, as Sea Viper missiles were fired in the Red Sea at military targets in Yemen. AP
Their activities have brought trade in the region to a standstill and caused some of the world’s largest shipping companies to cease operations in the Red Sea.
Despite repeated warnings from the US and allies that the Houthis will face “consequences” if they do not stop their attacks, the Houthis have repeatedly defied Western threats and continued their attacks.
“This targeted attack is a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to undermine freedom of navigation,” Biden said on Thursday.
The Houthis are a Yemeni Islamic extremist group supported, like many similar Middle Eastern extremists, by Iran. Getty Images
The Houthis, who control the majority of Yemen, launched their largest and most complex attack on Tuesday, firing 18 drones and three missiles from sites in Yemen.
US and UK forces have safely shot down the weapon, prompting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to promise more “consequences,” but failing to elaborate on when or what that might include.
Behind the scenes, Biden is calling his national security officials and “is being given military options for a collective response,” a senior administration official said in a call with reporters Thursday.
The President then ordered the Pentagon to launch an attack that resulted in a US-British bombing. Both countries hope counterattacks weaken Houthi fighters.
“This is an important action and is being carried out with every objective and every expectation that it will degrade, in a significant way, the ability of the Houthis to launch the kind of attacks that they have been carrying out in recent weeks,” said a senior administration official. .
Targets are also “very specifically chosen to minimize the risk of collateral damage,” a military official added.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the media before boarding his plane to return to Washington, following his week-long trip aimed at easing tensions across the Middle East, in Cairo on January 11. AP A Houthi militant aboard the Galaxy Leader, a shipping vessel the group seized in the Red Sea in November. via REUTERS
The Houthis have been preparing for a possible US attack, the Wall Street Journal reported, stockpiling their weapons in safe locations in populated areas – a tactic used by the same Iran-funded Hamas to prevent attacks.
Houthi leaders have vowed to retaliate with more force than ever if the US-led coalition attacks them.
“The response to any American attack will not only be at the current operational level, including more than 24 drones and various missiles, but will be greater,” Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said.
A missile was launched from a warship from an undisclosed location during an overnight military operation. via REUTERS
Another top Hothi official, Ali al-Qahoum, vowed that “the battle will be bigger… and beyond the imagination and expectations of the Americans and the British” on X.
A US military official said there had been no “direct retaliation” against the US or other members of the coalition since the joint country attacked.
But “we wouldn’t be surprised to see some kind of backlash,” a senior administration official told reporters.
With Postal wire.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
