The U.S. and Britain struck 13 Houthi targets in several locations in
Yemen on Thursday 30 May in response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war,
three U.S. officials said. The Houthi
rebels said the airstrikes killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 others.
According to the officials, American and British fighter jets and U.S.
ships hit a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command
and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. The officials spoke on
condition of anonymity to provide early details of an ongoing military
operation. Also struck by the U.S. were
eight uncrewed aerial vehicles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that were
determined to be presenting a threat to American and coalition forces.
We confirm this brutal aggression against Yemen as punishment for its
position in support of Gaza, in support of
Israel to continue its crimes of genocide against the wounded, besieged and
steadfast Gaza Strip, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam wrote on the social
platform X.
This is the fifth time that the U.S. and British militaries have conducted a combined operation against the Houthis since Jan. 12.
But the U.S. also has been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi
targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as
weapons that were prepared to launch. The U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets launched
from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials
said. Other U.S. warships in the region also participated.
The Houthis who
have already attacked 50 times in recent months have stepped up attacks on
shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, demanding that Israel end the war
in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some
250 hostage. And because of the Houthis’ attacks, shipping thru the Red Sea has
fallen down causing challenges to the very shipping which is forced to reroute
navigation resulting in extra cost.
.
President Joe Biden and other senior leaders have repeatedly warned that
the U.S. won’t tolerate the Houthi attacks against commercial shipping. .