The US has carried out its eighth round of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday at 11.59pm local time. A Pentagon statement said the bombing was “proportionate and necessary”.
US military officials said the strikes were successful and had “good impacts” in all eight locations. US Central Command said the strikes were to “respond to increased Houthi destabilising and illegal activities”.
The UK joined the airstrikes for the second time in 10 days. The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said the attacks were “in self-defence” and carried out in the interests of degrading Houthi capabilities.
The Pentagon said the operation targeted a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and air surveillance sites. The UK Ministry of Defence added that it was involved in hitting multiple targets at two military sites with guided-precision bombs in the vicinity of Sana’a airfield.
The action followed a call on Monday between Sunak and US president Joe Biden. The leaders discussed further “disrupting and degrading Houthi capabilities,” a US spokesperson said.
A joint statement from both countries said that they had conducted strikes against eight Houthi targets in Yemen, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
The UK involvement on Monday appears to have been smaller than 11 January’s strikes. Ten days ago, US and UK warships and jets hit more than 60 targets in 28 locations.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency said that American-British forces launched raids on the capital of Sanaa and several other parts of Yemen. Houthi TV outlet al-Masirah said four strikes targeted the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital, which is under rebel control.
A Houthi spokesperson said on X the airstrikes “will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination”. Mohammed al-Bukhaiti accused the UK and US of protecting the “perpetrators” of a “genocide” in Gaza.
Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi’s supreme revolutionary committee, has also posted on X about the latest round of strikes. As part of his post he says “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response”.
The UK prime minister did not brief the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, the house or the Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, ahead of the strikes. Rishi Sunak was criticised 10 days ago for not informing parliament before airstrikes were carried out.
The Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have disrupted the global commercial shipping route in the Red Sea and forced ships to go around the Cape of Good Hope. The Houthis say they are acting to support Palestine amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, in which officials say 25,000 people have been killed. However Houthi attacks have also targeted ships with no connection to Israel.
