On Friday night, January 12, the U.S. and British Armed Forces launched a series of strikes on numerous facilities of the Yemeni Houthis.
This is reported by CNN.
The strikes were from fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles. More than a dozen targets were hit with missiles to stop the constant attacks by the Houthis on merchant ships in the Red Sea. Radar systems, drone storage and launch sites, ballistic and cruise missile storage and launch sites were hit.
U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed a series of strikes on the Houthi bases in Yemen.
"Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways," Biden said.
He added that the strikes were a direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea, including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the strikes in Yemen were carried out in self-defense.
"The Royal Air Force has carried out precision strikes on military facilities used by Houthi rebels in Yemen. In recent months, the Houthis have carried out a series of dangerous attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, threatening UK and non-UK vessels. Therefore, we have taken limited, necessary and proportionate actions in self-defense with the United States, with support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain, against targets associated with attacks on ships to degrade the military capabilities of the Houthis and protect global shipping," Sunak said.
The CNN publication released a preliminary list of hit Houthi targets in Yemen. Overnight airstrikes hit several targets in Yemen, including airports.
Specifically:
- Kahlan military base in Saada province
- Al-Dailami Air Base, north of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa
- Areas surrounding Hodeidah International Airport in western Yemen
- Taiz International Airport and other parts of the Taiz Governorate in southwestern Yemen
- An airport serving the town of Abs in northwestern Yemen
At the same time, Britain's Royal Air Force said it hit two military target that are being used by the Houthis to launch drones. Several buildings in Bana in northwestern Yemen, which has been used to launch reconnaissance and attack drones, were among the targets. The Abs airfield, which intelligence reports said was used to launch cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea, was also hit.
In response to the UK and US strikes on Yemen, Russia has called an emergency session of the UN Security Council on January 12.
Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein al-Izzi spoke to Yemeni TV channel Al-Masirah and said that the United States and the United Kingdom "will pay a high price for this blatant aggression".