The US and UK launched strikes against the Houthis in Yemen after attacks on Western ships in the Red Sea
This Thursday night, the United States and the United Kingdom began Offensive against Houthi military targets in Yemen after numerous attacks For the sea transport of the rebel group to the Red Sea.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said this on Wednesday “There will be consequences” After the Houthi attack, when British Defense Secretary Grant Shaps told reporters he would “watch this place.”
For their part, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, They warned that any attack by US-led forces against Houthi targets would provoke a fierce military response.
The strike marked the first US military response against the Houthis, who have launched a sustained campaign of drone and missile attacks against commercial ships since the start of the war in Israel, and are a sign of growing international alarm about the threat to the world. Most critical waterways.
How are the US and UK attacks against the Houthis?
American and British armies Tomahawk missiles fired from warships have been used and fighter jets in the attack, several US officials told The Associated Press.
Military targets include logistics centers, air defense systems and weapons storage sites, they said.
The Associated Press noted that The United States and Britain have bombed more than a dozen sites It was used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen in what has been described as a largely retaliatory attack.
Why have the Houthis attacked commercial ships?
The Houthis have taken over Dozens of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea since late November And they say they aim to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Most of the ships attacked have nothing to do with Israel.
The group’s supreme leader, Abdel Malek al-Houthi, said during an hour-long speech that “the response to any American attack will not only be at the level of operations that were recently carried out with more than 24 drones and several missiles.” Period “He’ll be bigger than that.”
On Tuesday, the The Shiite Islamic group launched the largest ever barrage of drones and missiles against ships in the Red SeaAmerican and British warships and American fighter jets were forced to shoot down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and one anti-ship missile, an episode al-Houthi was likely referring to.
The insurgents have carried out 27 attacks since November 19 with dozens of drones and missiles.
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