The United States and Britain have launched air and sea strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the movement's attacks on ships in the Red Sea, a dramatic regional expansion of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Witnesses in Yemen confirmed to the media of explosions across the country, President Joe Biden warned in a statement late last night that he would not hesitate to take further action if necessary.
"These targeted strikes send a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to threaten freedom of navigation," Biden said.
The British Defense Ministry said in a statement that "early evidence suggests that the Houthis' ability to threaten commercial shipping has suffered a blow."
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is in hospital due to complications from surgery, said the strikes targeted Houthi capabilities, including drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, coastal radars and aerial surveillance.
A Houthi official confirmed the "raids" in the capital Sanaa, along with the cities of Saada and Damar, and in Hodeida province, calling them "US-Zionist-British aggression."
Witnesses told CNN that the raids targeted a military base near the airport in Sanaa, a military site near the airport in Taiz, a Houthi naval base in Hodeida and military sites in Hajjah province.
The ongoing strikes are one of the most dramatic demonstrations yet of the widening war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East since it erupted in October, although the US has said it has no intention of escalating tensions.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were carried out by aircraft, ships and submarines. The official said more than a dozen locations had been targeted and that the strikes were intended to weaken the Houthis' military capacity and were not merely symbolic.
"The purpose of these strikes was very clear from the beginning and from the president, and it was to remove the ability of the Houthis to attack naval vessels, whether commercial or military," another senior U.S. military official said. /BGNES
