Robots from warships and warplanes have struck over a dozen sites in Yemen used by the Iran-backed Islamist movement, which controls the country’s capital Sanaa.
Explosions were heard in the capital and in several areas during the night.
US President Biden claims that “successful attacks” have been carried out by the US military together with Britain. And it has happened with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, according to Biden.
Targets struck have been involved in attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, according to statements from the US and UK defense ministries.
Precision attacks have, among other things, been carried out by warplanes against facilities in northwestern Yemen from which robots and attack drones have been fired. Radar systems and weapons storage have also been knocked out.
“When planning the attacks, special consideration was given to minimizing any risk to civilians,” writes the British Ministry of Defense in a statement.
Attacking ships
The strikes mark the first major military response by the United States and its allies against Houthi installations in Yemen, following repeated attacks on civilian shipping passing through the strait connecting the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea en route to or from the Suez Canal.
In the past, the responses have come in the form of robots and attack drones being shot down and attacks on boats used in hijacking attempts.
The Houthis have threatened to attack ships they claim could benefit Israel, in retaliation for the Gaza war. However, several commercial merchant ships with no direct connection to Israel have been attacked.
More than 50 nations have been affected by the 27 attacks so far on international commercial shipping, according to Biden.
“These targeted attacks send a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to compromise freedom of navigation on one of the world’s most critical commercial shipping lanes,” Biden said in the statement.
Last week, the United States, Britain and 11 other allied countries, including Denmark and Germany, issued a final warning to the movement to end the attacks or face consequences.
But the attacks have continued. On Tuesday evening, 18 attack drones and three robots, launched from Yemen, were shot down by the US and British navies.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday called for an immediate end to the attacks on shipping, warning that they undermine the law of the sea as well as regional peace and security.
New threats
After the night’s attacks, several Huthi leaders have threatened that the response will be forceful.
“America and Great Britain will have to prepare to pay a high price and answer for all the fatal consequences of this gross aggression,” says the Huthi administration’s deputy foreign minister Hussein Al-Ezzi in the movement’s media.
Even on Thursday, before the air raids, the movement threatened the United States and Great Britain with increased attacks.
The Houthi movement has controlled much of Yemen since civil war broke out in the country in 2014.
In December, the United States assembled an international naval force to guard shipping. But several of the largest shipping companies have decided to freeze traffic through the Red Sea and redirect the routes.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called an extra cabinet meeting in London on Thursday to discuss the impending attacks, British media reports.