US and UK begin airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen

The US and UK have begun airstrikes against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen in response to more than two dozen attacks by the Iran-backed group on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea, US officials have said.

The strikes on Thursday and the early hours of Friday targeted roughly a dozen sites used by the Houthis in Yemen with warship-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles as well as fighter-launched weapons.

According to a senior Biden administration official, the strikes were ”aimed specifically to disrupt and degrade Houthi capabilities to threaten global trade and freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical waterways”.

The official said the targets “focused specifically on Houthi missile radar and UAV capabilities,” as well as “capabilities that are essential to the Houthis campaign against commercial shipping in international waters”.

“Today’s collective action comes against a broad diplomatic backdrop and global condemnation of his ongoing attacks, including the largest attack to date just three days ago, specifically targeting US vessels,” the official added.

Journalists located in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, heard four explosions early on Friday local time but saw no sign of warplanes.

Two residents of Hodieda, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, said they heard five strong explosions. Hodieda lies on the Red Sea and is the largest port city controlled by the Houthis.

An official from the Houthi movement claimed raids were also conducted on several Yemeni cities in the early hours of Friday,

“American-Zionist-British aggression against Yemen launches several raids on the capital, Sanaa, Hodeidah governorate, Saada, and Dhamar,” Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Mortada said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

In a statement, President Joe Biden confirmed the collaborative action by American and British forces, along with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands.

The president vowed to take further measures, if necessary, “to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce”.

Mr Biden said the strikes were in “direct response” to what he described as “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 said.

More than 50 nations have been affected in 27 attacks on international commercial shipping and crews from more than 20 countries have been threatened or taken hostage in acts of piracy, according to Mr Biden.

He added: “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. I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also confirmed the involvement of the Royal Air Force in a statement.

“In recent months, the Houthi militia have carried out a series of dangerous and destabilising attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, threatening UK and other international ships, causing major disruption to a vital trade route and driving up commodity prices. Their reckless actions are risking lives at sea and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen,” he said.

“Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week,” he continued, before adding: “This cannot stand.”

The strikes marked the first US military response against the Houthis for what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since November, following the outbreak of the war in Israel.

The Houthis initially began targeting vessels linked to Israel, but in recent weeks they have broadened their attacks to the point of severely disrupting international commerce on the key route between Europe and Asia that accounts for about 15 per cent of the world’s shipping traffic.

The coordinated military assault comes just a week after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Houthis to cease the attacks or face potential military action.

Despite the warnings, Houthi rebels fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea on Tuesday, prompting an immediate defensive responses from US and British ships and American fighter jets.

The forces shot down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile. On Thursday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was seen by a commercial ship but did not hit the ship.

The rebels, who have carried out 27 attacks involving dozens of drones and missiles just since 19 November, said on Thursday that any attack by American forces on its sites in Yemen would spark a fierce military response.

The coordinated strikes by the UK and US are believed to be the first the American military has carried out against the Houthis in Yemen since 2016.

Earlier on Thursday Mr Sunak held an emergency cabinet meeting. He had faced calls to recall Parliament after the Cabinet gathered to discuss potential action.

Britain’s participation in the strikes underscored the Biden administration’s effort to use a broad international coalition to battle the Houthis.

More than 20 nations are already participating in a US-led maritime mission to increase ship protection in the Red Sea.

US officials for weeks had declined to signal when international patience would run out and they would strike back at the Houthis, even as multiple commercial vessels were struck by missiles and drones, prompting companies to look at rerouting their ships.

However, on Wednesday, officials again warned of consequences, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken telling reporters: “I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen.”

Speaking in Bahrain Mr Blinken said the US had made clear “that if this continues as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. And I’m going to leave it at that.”

A senior White House official said President Biden had been “deeply engaged” in developments leading up to the joint British-American strikes, including having “directed the initial diplomatic response and then the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian as a defensive measure”.

After continued attacks over the New Year’s holiday weekend, Mr Biden met with his national security team on 1 January “to discuss options and the way forward,” the official said, adding that Mr Biden also directed his team to continue assembling a multinational coalition for potential military action, and to “refine the possible targets of such action”.

“The President directed his team to further develop military options should they be required, but to first issue a final warning statement, together with close partners and allies,” the official said.

After the further attacks on Tuesday, the official said Mr Biden convened his team once more and was briefed on “military options for a collective response” in concert with the multinational coalition.

The official added that Mr Biden approved the strikes at that Tuesday meeting and directed Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to carry them out.

The Associated Press contributed reporting from Yemen