[ad_1]
Washington: In response to continuous attacks on shipping by Iran-backed Huthi rebels, that have disrupted global trade, the United States and Britain destroyed dozens of targets in Yemen on Saturday. The joint air attacks in Yemen occurred a day after a series of American strikes targeted Iran-linked sites in Iraq and Syria. The actions were taken in response to the killing of three US soldiers in Jordan on January 28. The massive air strikes hit “36 Huthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Huthis’ continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea,” read the statement issued by the US, Britain and countries that provided support for the operation.
“These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Huthis use to threaten global trade, and the lives of innocent mariners. The attacks targeted sites associated with the Huthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars,” the statement read.
On Saturday, the United States intercepted as many as six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles before they could be launched into the Red Sea, according to US Central Command.
The attacks on successive days came as the Biden administration prepared a “multi-tiered” reaction to a drone attack that killed three US military personnel and injured hundreds more last weekend, according to CNN.
Almost precisely 24 hours after the first US munitions struck their targets in Iraq and Syria, the US launched further attacks in Yemen.
Saturday’s attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen mark the third time in recent weeks that the US and UK have hit Houthi targets as part of a combined operation, according to CNN.
On January 11, the two military forces targeted around 30 Houthi locations. Less than two weeks later, the US and UK hit an additional eight targets.
The prior operations targeted Houthi weapons storage facilities and radar installations in an attempt to impair the Iran-backed rebel group’s capacity to assault international maritime channels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, two of the world’s most important waterways.
The Houthi rebels, who are an Iran-aligned group, started the strikes in retaliation for Israel’s Gaza conflict. The Houthis have said that they will not stop attacking until Israel ends the hostilities in Gaza.
(With Agency inputs)
[ad_2]