Politics

US, UK defend airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

Washington, Jan 23 (EFE).- The United States and the United Kingdom have carried out another round of airstrikes, on eight Houthi rebel targets in Yemen.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the allies said Monday’s operation at 11.59pm local time was to disrupt the Houthis’ ability to continue their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, and also sought to avoid escalation.

It added that the operation took place with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.

The statement, which claimed the right to self-defense, was signed by the six nations and 18 other countries, including New Zealand, Italy, Germany, Denmark and South Korea.

“The thirty-plus attacks that the Houthis have launched on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to all countries that rely on international maritime shipping,” it said.

“We condemn these attacks, and demand an end to them. We also underscore that those who supply the Houthis with the weapons to conduct these attacks are violating UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law.”

The US-UK bombings targeted missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities, the US Central Command (Centcom) said in a separate statement.

The operation targeted eight Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen that were allegedly being used as bases of operations against shipping vessels in the region, Centcom added.

Yemeni news agency Saba reported that Yemem’s Armed Forces said alliance planes launched at least 18 raids on the capital Sana’a and four governorates, and that the bombings would not go unpunished.

Houthi spokesperson Mohammed al-Bukhaiti wrote on X that “the ruling Zionist elite in Washington and London moved their fleets to support and protect the perpetrators of genocide in Gaza.”

Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi’s supreme revolutionary committee, also wrote about the strikes on X, saying: “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response.”

The Houthis say their attacks are in retaliation for the offensive that Israel launched on the Gaza Strip, and which has since killed about 25,000 people, following the assault by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Oct. 7.

Yemen’s House of Representatives stated Tuesday that Sana’a “repeatedly affirmed that international navigation in the Red Sea is safe except for Israeli ships or ships heading to the Palestinian territories,” according to Saba.

However, Houthis appear to have also attacked vessels that have no apparent connection to Israel. EFE

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