The United States and the United Kingdom today bombed several military positions of the Houthi rebels in at least six provinces of Yemen in response to the insurgents’ attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea, an action that has caused the Shiite movement backed by Iran declares war on these countries.
Houthis say five of their members were killed
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced that five of their fighters were killed and six others wounded in a total of 73 strikes carried out by the United States and the United Kingdom against the Arab country in response to insurgent attacks in the Red Sea.
The military spokesman for the insurgents, Yahya Sarea, reported in a televised statement the effects of the action launched by the US and the United Kingdom against various targets in the provinces of Al Hudeidah, Taiz, Hajjah and Saada, all of them in hands of the insurgents.
“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for their criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and will not go unanswered or unpunished,” Sarea threatened.
They also assured that they will continue attacking ships in the Red Sea that are linked to Israel, after the “unjustified” bombings by the United States and the United Kingdom this morning.
“There is no justification for this aggression against Yemen, since there was no danger to international maritime navigation in the Red and Arabian Sea,” Mohamed Abdelsalam, one of the spokespersons for the Houthis, a movement supported, said on X (formerly Twitter). for Iran.
New attack on a ship off Yemen, no casualties
The British Navy reported today that a missile fired at a ship off the coast of Yemen hit the water without causing casualties or damage, in the first attack in the Red Sea since the US and the United Kingdom attacked this morning positions of the Yemeni Houthi rebels.
The British Navy’s Maritime Commercial Operations (UKMTO) said in an alert that the missile was launched at a ship about 90 nautical miles southeast of Aden and hit the water about 400-500 meters away. of the ship.
Likewise, the attack was followed “by three small boats,” according to the UKMTO, which indicated that the ship’s captain reported that there were no casualties or material damage and that the ship was heading to the next port of call.
The United Kingdom does not plan to launch more attacks “immediately” against the Houthis
The British government does not foresee any further attacks “immediately” against the Houthis in Yemen, UK Secretary of State for Defense James Heappey said.
In statements to the BBC, the official clarified today that there are “no more military actions planned at the moment” after the bombings carried out by planes of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the US air forces against positions of those rebels. in Yemen.
Furthermore, the British Government assured in a legal argument that the attack was necessary and proportionate, while defending that its armed response is permitted by international law.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also indicated from kyiv (Ukraine) that the United Kingdom must send “a strong message” to the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea that they cannot continue their attacks “with impunity.”
In statements from Ukraine , where the Tory leader is today on a surprise visit to meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Sunak declared to the media that the United Kingdom and its allies will not hesitate to guarantee the security of the commercial navigation
Hamas “strongly” condemns US attacks
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, for its part, “strongly condemned the flagrant US-British aggression” against Yemen and held both Western countries responsible for the repercussions that these attacks have on the security of the region.
“We consider them a crime and a flagrant aggression against Yemeni sovereignty, and a threat to the security of the region, which is witness to an American and British militarization that came to protect the Nazi-Zionist occupation and cover up their crimes against the Palestinian people. and the entire Arab region,” Hamas said in a statement.
Russia calls for urgent Security Council meeting over attacks
Russia also demanded an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council regarding the airstrikes against Yemen by the United States and the United Kingdom, which the Kremlin strongly condemned.
Last night, the Russian Embassy to the UN requested that said meeting be held today, Friday, in New York.
“We condemn them (the attacks),” Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone press conference, adding that “from the point of view of international law they are illegitimate.”
NATO justifies attacks
NATO assured this Friday that the attacks by the United States and the United Kingdom against military positions of the Houthi rebels in Yemen were “defensive” and were “designed to preserve freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea.
“These attacks were defensive and designed to preserve freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most important waterways. The Houthi attacks must end,” said NATO spokesperson Dylan White in a statement provided to
Iran warned that the US and UK bombings against Yemen are fueling insecurity and instability in the region and called on the international community to act to prevent the spread of the conflict.
China also expressed concern about the escalation of tension in the Red Sea.
Australia has stressed its “support” for the bombing carried out by the United States and the United Kingdom and has claimed to have sent personnel to the headquarters from which the operation was conducted.
Japan also joined the countries that justify the bombings. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, one of the main US allies in the Middle East, called for “moderation.”
France gave implicit support to the US-led military action against the Houthis by underlining its support for the UN Security Council resolution authorizing a response to the attacks that the Yemeni rebel group has carried out against ships in the Red Sea.
The attack “is not proportional” and is intended to turn the Red Sea “into a sea of blood,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The German Government reiterated its willingness to participate in a European mission to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea in the face of attacks by the Houthi rebels, an option that is being debated in Brussels “intensively and urgently.”
Electric car maker Tesla reported that it is forced to halt most of its production at its Grünheide plant, near Berlin, for two weeks due to gaps in supply chains as a result of attacks on ships by of Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
Biden confirms the attacks
US President Joe Biden confirmed in a statement that under his direction, US forces, together with the United Kingdom and support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, carried out successful attacks against several targets in Yemen used by the Houthis.
Witnesses consulted by EFE pointed out that the bombings hit at least six provinces in the hands of the Houthis, who have controlled a large part of northwest Yemen since 2014, when a bloody war still underway broke out that has plunged the Arab country into the worst humanitarian catastrophe. of the planet.
military objectives
According to witnesses, the bombed areas were the capital, Sanaa; the port city of Al Hudeidah; and the provinces of Saada, Dhamar, Taiz and Hajjah, all in western Yemen.
Two of the bombings in Sana’a targeted the Al Dailami air base, located at the capital’s airport, while two other airstrikes in Taiz hit military positions and also its airfield.
In the port city of Al Hodeida, from where the Houthis have launched many of the attacks against merchant ships, the bombings targeted different positions near its airport, while some military barracks in the town of Saada also suffered the impact of The attacks.
“Our country has been the subject of massive aggression by American and British ships, submarines and warplanes, and there is no doubt that the United States and Britain will have to be prepared to pay a high price,” he said in Houthi deputy foreign minister, Hussein al Ezzi.
Likewise, he threatened that both Washington and London “will bear the terrible consequences of this flagrant aggression.”
According to Washington, the military action is in response to the “unprecedented” attacks by the Houthi rebels, who this Thursday launched a ballistic missile with the aim of hitting the shipping routes of the Gulf of Aden, a strategic route for the transport of oil from the Persian Gulf.
Shortly after the first round of bombings occurred, Houthi political bureau member Ali al-Quhom warned through his X account that these actions have sparked an “open war” between the Iran-backed movement and the naval coalition led by the United States.
“The battle will be bigger, and beyond the imagination and expectations of the Americans and the British. It is an open war,” said the insurgent leader, who assured that the US and the United Kingdom “will regret their aggression.”
Likewise, Al Quhom confirmed that the Houthis “are now responding forcefully to the American and British battleships in the Red Sea,” where he assured that “a furious war” is underway.
Protect global maritime trade
In his statement, Biden said that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “have endangered American personnel, civilian Marines, and our partners, endangered commerce, and threatened freedom of navigation.”
In support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the insurgents have been attacking ships supposedly linked to Israel in the Red Sea since November 19, although they assure that their intention is not to sink ships but to exert economic pressure on the Jewish State to to stop the war.
Biden explained that more than 50 nations have been affected by these attacks, while more than 2,000 ships have been forced to divert to avoid the Red Sea, raising transportation costs and potentially causing weeks of delays in delivery times. shipping of products.
The main shipping companies worldwide continue to adjust their routes to avoid sailing through this sea route, through which almost 15% of global maritime trade transits, including 8% of the world’s grain trade, 12% of the oil trade and 8% of the global maritime trade. % of world trade in liquefied natural gas.
The attacks against Yemen come just hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a tour of the Middle East in which he warned that the US-led naval coalition in the Red Sea would respond if the Houthis They continue to launch attacks against merchant ships.
Republicans say action against Houthis should have happened sooner
Republican leaders in the US Congress said President Joe Biden’s order for military action, backed by at least nine countries, against Yemen’s Houthi rebels should have come sooner.
The president of the US House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, criticized the fact that the joint operation with the United Kingdom was carried out until today. “This action by American and British forces should have been done a long time ago,” the congressman said on his X social network account.
The leader of the Republican minority in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, agreed with Johnson, and said in a statement that the US president’s decision against the rebels, whom he described as Iranian proxies, is overdue.
By Nadeem Faisal Baiga
