US and UK again attack Houthis in Yemen

(Patria) - The United States and the United Kingdom launched new strikes against the Houthis in Yemen late last night, AFP reported.

US and British forces carried out the first wave of attacks against the Houthis earlier this month, and
the United States launched further airstrikes on missiles that Washington says pose an imminent threat to both civilian and military vessels.

The latest US and UK strikes were against "eight Houthi targets in Yemen in response to
continuous attacks on international and commercial ships, as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea," Washington and London said in a joint statement with other
countries supporting the military action.

They "specifically targeted a Houthi underground storage facility and locations associated with missile and
air surveillance capabilities," the statement said.

"These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent sailors," it stated, adding that the rebel group had carried out "a series of illegal, dangerous and destabilizing" actions since the previous joint US and UK airstrikes.

A senior US military official said the strikes were carried out by a combination of precision-guided munitions from US and British aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles. There were no concerns about civilian casualties at the targeted locations, while Houthi losses are currently unknown, he added.

"The targeting was very specific and... very intentionally seeking out the capability they use to
attack maritime vessels in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and the Gulf of Aden," the official said.

The official Yemeni news agency Saba reported that the strikes hit the capital Sana'a and several other parts of the country, while TV Al-Masirah stated that four strikes were directed at the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital, which is under Houthi control.

Earlier on Monday, the Houthis said they fired on a US military cargo ship off the coast of
Yemen, and their military spokesman Yahya Saree said they had "conducted a military operation targeting the US military cargo ship Ocean Jazz in the Gulf of Aden."