The United States and the UK launched military strikes in Yemen on January 12 in reaction to Houthi rebel assaults on ships in the Red Sea, raising concerns of an escalating conflict in the region.
Following the early Friday attacks, which rebels said killed five people, the Houthis issued a warning saying all assets belonging to the US and the UK are now considered “legitimate targets.”
US President Joe Biden said the strikes were a response to “unprecedented” attacks by the Houthis on commercial ships in the Red Sea. He cautioned that he would “not hesitate” to take additional action if deemed necessary.
“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,” Biden said of the attacks by air and sea.
US Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, said nearly 30 locations in Yemen were hit by over 150 munitions during the attacks on Friday. Anticipating limited casualties due to rural target locations, he said Washington expects a potential Houthi retaliation.
Yahya Saree, military spokesperson of the militant group said, “The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished.”
US military launches fresh attacks
Following the joint US-British strikes on Houthi rebels, the US military conducted additional airstrikes in Yemen on early Saturday, targeting a Houthi-controlled site posing a risk to commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The Navy destroyer USS Carney struck a Houthi radar site using Tomahawk land attack missiles, the US Central Command said.
The action was taken in response to perceived threats, as the US Navy had previously advised American-flagged vessels to avoid specific areas in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for the next 72 hours after the initial airstrikes.
These efforts aim to enhance maritime security and deter potential Houthi rebel threats in the region, the allies said.
Houthi missiles targeting US warship intercepted
The US military has claimed that one of its fighter aircraft intercepted and shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired by Houthis at the USS Laboon operating in the Southern Red Sea. No injuries or damage were reported by US Central Command.
A Houthi supporter said on Sunday that they would continue attacking merchant shipping in the busy waterway south of the Suez Canal “because they are at war with Israel”.
Houthis vow revenge
Following US and UK airstrikes, Houthi militants in Yemen pledged retaliation. Despite Houthi claims that their missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea targeted Israeli-affiliated shipping, US officials emphasized that the airstrikes were not aimed at escalating the conflict in Gaza. However, the US has said it could strike the Houthi campaign again.
The leader of Hezbollah, a Houthi ally, said all ships in the southern Red Sea were now in danger. Hassan Nasrallah said the US bombing on Friday “will harm the security of all maritime navigation” because “the sea has become a theatre of fighting, missiles, drones and warships”.
Hussain al-Bukhaiti threatened that if the US and Britain continued to attack Yemen, Houthi forces would retaliate by attacking Western warships “maybe using hundreds of drones and missiles,” further escalating tension in the region.
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthis, led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, are an armed group that control most parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa. They are believed to be an Iran-backed group of Shiite rebels who have been fighting Yemen’s government for about two decades.
The Houthis emerged in the 1990s but gained prominence in 2014, when they rebelled against Yemen’s government, causing it to step down and leading to a humanitarian crisis and a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands.
Since then, the Houthis have spent years fighting a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. The two sides have also tried to hold peace talks that may recognize the Houthis’ right to govern northern Yemen.
Why are the Houthis attacking ships in the Red Sea?
Recently, the Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, a crucial shipping route through which 12% of world trade passes.
The Houthi group, which oppose the US and Israeli influence in the Middle East, began attacking ships traveling to Israel or leaving it following the Israel-Hamas war that started on October 7, 2023. The Houthis have launched 27 attacks with drones and missiles on vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023.
The rebel group claimed that their attacks in the Red Sea are in response to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Yahya Sarea, a Houthi spokesman, has said that the group is attacking ships to protest the “killing, destruction and siege” in Gaza and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
More than 23,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the Israeli bombing campaign and ground offensive since October 7, according to the Gaza authorities. Israel launched continous airstrikes after Hamas carried out cross-border raids and killed about 1,200 people, the Israeli authorities say.