Yemen airstrikes latest: US launches more attacks against Houthi rebels

Joe Biden, whose administration removed the Houthis from a State Department list of “foreign terrorist organisations” in 2021, was asked by reporters if he felt the term “terrorist” described the movement now.

“I think they are,” he said.

Drone footage on the Houthis’ al-Masirah TV showed hundreds of thousands of people in Sanaa chanting slogans denouncing Israel and the United States.

“Your strikes on Yemen are terrorism,” said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council. “The United States is the Devil.”

The Houthis, who have controlled most of Yemen for nearly a decade, said five fighters were killed, but they vowed to continue their attacks on regional shipping.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations information hub said it had received reports of a missile landing in the sea around 500m (1,600ft) from a ship about 90 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni port of Aden.

The shipping security firm Ambrey identified it as a Panama-flagged tanker carrying Russian oil.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said the strikes by the US military had targeted the Houthis’ ability to store, launch and guide missiles or drones, which the group has used in recent months to threaten Red Sea shipping.

The Pentagon said the US-British assault reduced the Houthis’ capacity to launch fresh attacks. The US military said 60 targets in 28 sites were hit.

Giving up after just one round would underline real strategic weakness after a tactical show of strength, writes General Sir Richard Barrons:

The United States carried out an additional strike against Yemen’s Houthi forces on Friday, two officials told Reuters, after president Joe Biden’s administration vowed to protect shipping in the Red Sea.

The latest strike, which one of the US officials said targeted a radar site, came a day after dozens of US and British strikes on the Iran-backed group’s facilities.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not provide more details. Radar infrastructure has been a key target in the US military effort to halt Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

The Houthi movement’s television channel Al-Masirah reported that the United States and Britain were targeting the Yemeni capital Sanaa with raids.

Intensifying concerns about a widening regional conflict, US and British warplanes, ships and submarines on Thursday launched missiles against targets across Yemen controlled by the group, which has cast its maritime campaign as support for Palestinians under siege by Israel in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Even as Houthi leaders swore retaliation, Mr Biden warned earlier yesterday that he could order more strikes if they do not stop their attacks on merchant and military vessels in one of the world’s most economically vital waterways.

“We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior,” he told reporters during a stop in Pennsylvania.

The US military early today struck another Houthi-controlled site in Yemen that they determined was putting commercial vessels in the Red Sea at risk.

That is according to two US officials who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press to discuss an operation that had not yet been publicly announced.

Yesterday, the first day of strikes hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets.

However, the US determined the additional location, a radar site, still presented a threat to maritime traffic, one official said.

The fear is that the strikes will do little to minimise the capabilities of the Houthis, who have successfully fought for decades against the Yemeni government, writes Bel Trew:

Second wave of strikes carried out by US unilaterally say officials.

Italy, Spain and France stood out by not taking part in US and British strikes against the Houthi group in Yemen and not even signing up to a statement put out by 10 countries justifying the attack.

The divergence highlighted divisions in the West over how to deal with the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been targeting civilian ships in the Red Sea for weeks in what they say is a protest against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain provided logistical and intelligence support for the operation, US officials have said.

Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and South Korea signed a joint statement with these six nations defending the overnight attacks and warning of further action to protect the free flow of Red Sea trade if the Houthis did not back down.

A source in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said Italy had declined to sign the statement, and as a result was not asked to participate in the attack.