In a coordinated effort, the United States and the United Kingdom executed new airstrikes on eight targets utilized by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Monday, aiming to curtail the group’s interference with commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The airstrikes, conducted on Monday night, marked the eighth round of combined attacks within a 12-day span. The strikes focused on an underground storage site and locations associated with the Houthis’ “missile and air surveillance capabilities,” according to a joint statement by the US and UK, along with partners Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands.
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The statement asserted that the airstrikes were designed to “disrupt and degrade” the capabilities of the Houthis. “These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners,” the statement said, highlighting the rebel group’s “illegal, dangerous, and destabilizing” actions since the previous joint US-UK air raids.
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Yemen’s official Saba news agency reported that “American-British forces are launching raids on the capital of Sanaa” and various other parts of Yemen. Houthi TV outlet al-Masirah mentioned that four strikes targeted the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital, which is under rebel control.
The airstrikes represented a significant escalation in a series of attacks since the initial wave of missile and Tomahawk launches by the US and the UK on January 12. The Houthis have disrupted global shipping and traffic through a waterway that formerly accounted for 12 percent of global trade.
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for firing on a US military cargo ship off the Yemen coast.
The Houthi attacks, initiated in protest of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and the subsequent allied response have raised concerns about increased US involvement in the Middle East, potentially sparking a broader regional conflict.
Earlier on Monday, the US confirmed that two Navy Seals who went missing during a mission on January 11 to seize Iranian weapons destined for the Houthis are now presumed dead. This marks the first publicly known US military casualties linked to the conflict. The two SEALs were part of a team that boarded a dhow near the coast of Somalia. US forces sank the boat after seizing components for ballistic and cruise missiles.
Last week, President Joe Biden acknowledged that the previous strikes had not achieved the intended effect.
