The United States and Britain launched new strikes on Yemen’s Houthis Monday, saying their second round of joint military action against the Iran-backed rebels was in response to continued attacks on Red Sea shipping. Earlier this month, American and British forces carried out a first wave of strikes and the US launched further air raids against missiles that Washington said posed imminent threats to vessels. The Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks, which are linked to the Israel-Hamas war. The latest US-UK strikes were against eight Houthi targets in Yemen, intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities used to threaten global trade and innocent sailors.
The targets of the strikes included missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities. The senior US military official said the targeting was deliberate and specific, and carried out using a combination of precision-guided munitions from American and British aircraft, and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Washington is also seeking to put diplomatic and financial pressure on the Houthis. The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began after an unprecedented October attack by the Palestinian militant group, resulting in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians. Those deaths have sparked widespread anger across the region and stoked violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
