US, British militaries launch massive retaliatory strike against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen

The US and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranianbacked Houthis in Yemen on Thursday in a massive retaliatory strike using warship and submarinelaunched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets US officials said The military targets included logistical hubs air defense systems and weapons storage and launching locations they saidPresident Joe Biden said the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the US and its allies will not tolerate the militant groups ceaseless attacks on the Red Sea And he said the US and its allies only made the move after attempts at diplomatic negotiations and careful deliberationThese strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea including the use of antiship ballistic missiles for the first time in history Biden said in a statement These attacks have endangered US personnel civilian mariners and our partners jeopardized trade and threatened freedom of navigationAssociated Press journalists in Yemens capital Sanaa heard four explosions early Friday local time but saw no sign of warplanes Two residents of Hodieda Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed said they heard five strong explosions hitting the western port area of the city which lies on the Red Sea and is the largest port city controlled by the Houthis Explosions also were heard by residents of Taiz a southwestern city near the Red SeaThe strikes marked the first US military response to what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the IsraelHamas war And the coordinated military assault comes just a week after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Houthis to cease the attacks or face potential military action The officials confirmed the strikes on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations Members of Congress were briefed earlier Thursday on the strike plansThe warning appeared to have had at least some shortlived impact as attacks stopped for several days On Tuesday however the Houthi rebels fired their largestever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea with US and British ships and American fighter jets responding by shooting down 18 drones two cruise missiles and an antiship missile And on Thursday the Houthis fired an antiship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden which was seen by a commercial ship but did not hit the ship In a separate statement UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Royal Air Force carried out targeted strikes against military facilities used by the HouthisNoting the militants have carried out a series of dangerous attacks on shipping he added This cannot stand He said the UK took limited necessary and proportionate action in selfdefense alongside the United States with nonoperational support from the Netherlands Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shippingThe rebels who have carried out 27 attacks involving dozens of drones and missiles just since Nov 19 said Thursday that any attack by American forces on its sites in Yemen will spark a fierce military response The response to any American attack will not only be at the level of the operation that was recently carried out with more than 24 drones and several missiles said Abdel Malek alHouthi the groups supreme leader during an hourlong speech It will be greater than thatThe Houthis say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israels war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip But their targets increasingly have little or no connection to Israel and imperil a crucial trade route linking Asia and the Middle East with Europe Meanwhile the UN Security Council passed a resolution Wednesday that demanded the Houthis immediately cease the attacks and implicitly condemned their weapons supplier Iran It was approved by a vote of 110 with four abstentions by Russia China Algeria and MozambiqueBritains participation in the strikes underscored the Biden administrations effort to use a broad international coalition to battle the Houthis rather than appear to be going it alone More than 20 nations are already participating in a USled maritime mission to increase ship protection in the Red Sea US officials for weeks had declined to signal when international patience would run out and they would strike back at the Houthis even as multiple commercial vessels were struck by missiles and drones prompting companies to look at rerouting their shipsOn Wednesday however US officials again warned of consequences Im not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters during a stop in Bahrain He said the US has made clear that if this continues as it did yesterday there will be consequences And Im going to leave it at thatThe Biden administrations reluctance over the past several months to retaliate reflected political sensitivities and stemmed largely from broader worries about upending the shaky truce in Yemen and triggering a wider conflict in the region The White House wants to preserve the truce and has been wary of taking action in Yemen that could open up another war frontThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever