UK and US launch fresh airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen

The UK and US have launched another round airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

American and British fighter jets hit sites in eight locations, according to US officials.

The strikes comes after a surge in attacks around the Red Sea by the Iran-backed group.

Precision-guided bombs were used against the drones and their launchers, according to the MoD

A joined statement from the US and UK said the attack was designed to degrade Houthi capabilities used to “threaten global trade, naval vessels and innocent mariners” along one of the world’s most critical waterways.

Intelligence analysis had successfully identified several very long-range drones, used by the Houthis for both reconnaissance and attack missions, at one site several miles north east of Sanaa, the Ministry of Defence said.

This is the fourth time that a joint operation has been launched against the rebel group since January 12, though the action appears to have done little to deter Houthi attacks.

The US has also been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out targets including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as weapons that were prepared to launch.

In a statement, the US, UK and other allies said the “necessary and proportionate strikes specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across eight locations in Yemen” that also included underground storage facilities, radar and a helicopter.

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The strikes have support from a wider coalition of countries including Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed shortly after the attacks that America “will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways”.

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the latest strikes were launched because “it is our duty to protect lives at sea and preserve freedom of navigation”.

“That is why the Royal Air Force engaged in a fourth wave of precision strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen.”

Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Joe Biden have repeatedly said that attacks on the key global shipping route will not be tolerated.

But the Houthis have launched at least 57 attacks on commercial and military ships in the the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November, and the pace has picked up in recent days.

A Houthi attack on a Belize-flagged ship on February 18 is thought to have caused an 18-mile oil slick and prompted warnings about the danger of a spill from the vessel’s cargo of fertiliser.

The Rubymar, a British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo vessel, was attacked while sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The attack forced the crew to abandon the vessel, which had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving the United Arab Emirates. It was transporting more than 41,000 tons of fertiliser, according to a Central Command statement.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has called for other countries and maritime-protection organisations to quickly address the oil slick and avert “a significant environmental disaster”.

Additional reporting by Press Association.