UK and US forces launch fresh missile strikes on Houthis in Yemen

UK and US forces have carried out a fresh round of joint missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

Officials say the US and UK took out Houthi missile storage sites and launchers, in the second set of co-ordinated strikes against the Iran-backed militants.

The UK joined the US in carrying out strikes against the group earlier this month in response to a campaign of Houthi drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping along the vital Red Sea and Gulf of Aden trade routes.

Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden spoke on Monday evening, with the two leaders undertaking to “continue efforts alongside international partners to deter and disrupt” attacks by Houthis.

In recent days, the US launched seven rounds of airstrikes on Houthi military sites, targeting air bases under the rebels’ control and suspected missile launch sites.

The Houthis’ media office said in an online statement that several American and UK raids targeted Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

Jamal Hassan, a resident from south Sanaa, told the Associated Press that two strikes landed near his home, setting off car alarms in the street.

Strikes by UK and US have so far not deterred the Houthis from their campaign against Red Sea shipping.

For months, they have have attacked ships in the region’s waterways that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to Israeli ports.

They say their attacks aim to end the Israel’s air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip that was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s 7 October incursion.