Britain and US launch airstrikes on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen | UK News
The UK and US have carried out air strikes against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen.
Rishi Sunak stressed the action, approved by the Cabinet in an emergency call and coming after weeks of tensions in Red Sea, was ‘limited, necessary and proportionate… in self-defence’.
The US Air Force sad American and British forces struck more than 60 targets in 16 locations, including logistical hubs, air defence systems and weapons storage locations.
It marks the first time strikes have been launched against the group since it started targeting international shipping late last year, and it vowed there would be retaliation.
Joe Biden said Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands also provided support.
The Prime Minister said early on Friday morning: ‘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.
‘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. This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade.
‘We have therefore taken limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence, alongside the United States with non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks, to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping.
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‘The Royal Navy continues to patrol the Red Sea as part of the multinational Operation Prosperity Guardian to deter further Houthi aggression, and we urge them to cease their attacks and take steps to de-escalate.’
Mr Biden said: ‘These strikes are in direct response to 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 US personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardised trade, and threatened freedom of navigation.
‘More than 50 nations have been affected in 27 attacks on international commercial shipping. Crews from more than 20 countries have been threatened or taken hostage in acts of piracy.
‘More than 2,000 ships have been forced to divert thousands of miles to avoid the Red Sea — which can cause weeks of delays in product shipping times. And on January 9, Houthis launched their largest attack to date—directly targeting American ships.’
The rebels, who have carried out 27 attacks involving dozens of drones and missiles just since November 19, had warned that any attack by American forces on its sites in Yemen will spark a fierce military response.
A high-ranking Houthi official, Ali al-Qahoum, vowed there would be retaliation.
‘The battle will be bigger … and beyond the imagination and expectation of the Americans and the British,’ he said in a post on X.
Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, described strikes hitting the Al-Dailami Air Base north of Sanaa, the airport in the port city of the Hodeida, a camp east of Saada, the airport in the city of Taiz and an airport near Hajjah.
The Houthis did not immediately offer any damage or casualty information.
Who are the Houthi rebels behind attacks on ships in Red Sea?
Tensions in the Middle East have risen after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels began striking at ships passing through the Red Sea.
On Thursday night the UK and US struck more than a dozen sites used by the rebel group in a massive retaliatory strike after a spate of 27 attacks on shipping since November.
The Islamist group claims it began striking a narrow strip of sea between Yemen and east Africa, which is a key international trade route, in a bid to end Israel’s air and ground offensive against Hamas.
The Shia militant group is allied to Tehran, as are Hamas and Hezbollah, and seeks to reduce western influence in the Middle East.
Its slogan includes the words ‘death to America’, ‘death to Israel’ and ‘a curse upon the Jews’.
The group emerged in the 1990s and its supporters mainly come from the ranks of Zaidi Shia Muslims and the Houthi tribe.
It claimed former president Ali Abudllah Saleh had grown too close to Saudi Arabia and Israel, and tensions between them grew for several years.
The death of the group’s founder, Hussein al Houthi, at the hands of the Yemeni military led to the Houthi insurgency from 2004.
The group later participated in the 2011 Yemeni revolution.
The rebels rose to prominence after capturing Yemen’s capital Sana’a in 2014, sparking a civil war which is estimated to have killed almost 400,000 people.
They captured more territory after aligning with Mr Saleh in 2015 and now control much of western Yemen down to the Bab al Mandeb Strait, a 16-mile stretch of water which marks the entrance to the Red Sea.
The group’s takeover of the capital prompted Saudi Arabia to intervene in a bid to restore the internationally recognised government, which has a Sunni majority.
A Saudi and UAE bombing campaign against Houthi targets was launched in 2015 and drew criticism over civilian deaths, leading to calls for the UK to cease arms exports to Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Tehran has been accused of providing arms, training and financial support to the Houthis.
The war has been viewed as a proxy in a wider conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia as they both seek greater influence across the Middle East.
Tensions rose in 2017 after the group claimed responsibility for firing a missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and they killed Mr Saleh later that year after he switched from supporting them to backing the Saudi-led coalition.
The rebels have attacked Saudi Arabia, the UAE and most recently Israel with missiles before the clashes in the Red Sea erupted.
Mr Sunak held a full Cabinet call on Thursday evening in which ministers discussed the response to disruption on the key global shipping route.
In an unusual move, the Government briefed Sir Keir Starmer and shadow defence secretary John Healey after the call.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle visited the Cabinet Office late on Thursday.
With the Commons having finished business for the week and the Prime Minister having no plans to recall Parliament, MPs will be unable to debate the military intervention until Monday.
The Liberal Democrats demanded a vote take place and the SNP said any military action should be scrutinised in the Commons.
Parliament cannot be recalled without the Government asking the Commons Speaker to do so, and such requests are rare.
The Royal Navy air defence destroyer HMS Diamond was involved in the response to earlier attacks, which the Houthis have claimed are a response to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Some major shipping lines and oil giant BP have already diverted vessels around southern Africa, adding time and costs to journeys, rather than risk the Red Sea.
If the crisis continues, the increased costs could be passed on to consumers, hampering efforts to curb inflation and reduce interest rates.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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