Sanaa (South24 Center)

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In a strong retaliation to the escalation in Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the US and Britain struck 13 Houthi targets in several locations in Yemen on Thursday. The Houthis have reported several casualties due to the strikes.

 

American and British fighter jets and US ships hit a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities, US officials were quoted as telling NPR news website.

The strong US-UK response came in the wake of a marked escalation in Houthi attacks on ships, with the Iran-backed militia targeting 12 vessels in three seas in a week, with six attacks taking place on Tuesday, according to the group. 

On Thursday (May 30), Houthi Leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi declared that Yemeni forces will continue their military operations and escalate them "in quality and quantity" in support of Palestinians in Israel's war on Gaza.

The Houthis’ Al Masirah satellite news reported a number of casualties from the US-British strikes. It quoted the Health Office in Hodeidah as saying that 16 people were killed and 35 wounded in the US-British airstrikes on the province on Thursday night and Friday.

 

It said the US and UK “launched a series of raids on Thursday on the capital Sana'a and the provinces of Hodeidah and Taiz as Yemeni forces continue their maritime operations against Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea.”

 

It said “the US-British aggression launched three raids on the Nahdain area in Al-Sabeen district, one raid on Sana'a International Airport, and two raids on the Jarban area in the Sanhan district.”

In Hodeidah, it reported four raids on Al-Hawk district, targeting the radio building in the district, resulting in the death of two people and injury of 10 citizens. It also reported an attack on a building in Al-Salif Port and raids on the Al-Ghalifqa area.

In Taiz, “the US-British aggression targeted the telecommunications network in the Al-A'abus area of Haifan district”, Al Masirah said.

The strikes came a day after a US MQ-9 Reaper drone went down in Yemen, and the Houthis released footage they said showed the aircraft being targeted with a surface-to-air missile in a desert region of Marib. It was the third such downing this month alone.

This is the fifth time that the US and British militaries have conducted a combined operation against the Houthis since January 12. But the US also has been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as weapons that were prepared to launch, NPR reported.

The US launched F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other U.S. warships in the region also participated.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the Houthi threat. 

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