Furious Houthi forces have vowed to retaliate to a scale ‘beyond the imagination’ of the West after heavy UK and US air strikes pounded targets across rebel-held areas of Yemen overnight.
British and American fighter jets and warships launched more than 100 precision missiles at over 60 targets in Houthi-held territory in Yemen, with the strikes hitting an airbase, an airport and military camp in a dramatic escalation of the war in the Middle East.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have now vowed to respond to the attacks they claim have killed at least five people, with leaders saying the UK and US must ‘prepare to pay a heavy price’ for their ‘blatant aggression’.
Responding to the strikes, the group’s spokesperson Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said the US and Britain had ‘made a mistake launching the war in Yemen’. He added: ‘Soon they will realise that the direct aggression against Yemen was the greatest folly in their history’.
Ali al-Qahoum, a high-ranking Houthi official, went further and said: ‘The battle will be bigger… and beyond the imagination and expectation of the Americans and the British.’
Hussein al-Ezzi, a Houthi official in their Foreign Ministry, vowed: ‘America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression’.
Russia also waded into the row, condemning the strikes as a ‘violation of international law aimed at an escalation in the region to attain their destructive objectives’.
Britain and America launched strikes from the sea and air in response to months of disruptive attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis, with a coalition of nations including the UK and US forced to deploy warships to protect them.
Huthi fighters brandish their weapons during a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 11
Footage taken from an RAF Typhoon PoOD over Yemen, showing a targeted strike
An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the US led coalition to conduct air strikes against military targets in Yemen
A missile is launched from a warship during the U.S.-led coalition operation against military targets in Yemen, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia overnight
One of four RAF Typhoon aircraft returning to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after joining the US-led coalition conducting air strikes against military targets in Yemen on Friday
An unverified image appeared to show the result and British and US airstrikes in Yemen tonight
More than a dozen sites were bombed by Western forces, in raids which included submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.
The strikes hit Al-Dailami Air Base north of Sanaa, the airport in the port city of the Hodeida, a camp east of Saada, the airport in the city of Taiz and an airport near Hajjah, according to Al-Masirah news channel.
Four of Britain’s RAF Typhoons used Paveway IV guided bombs to ‘conduct precision strikes’ on two targets that had been chosen to ‘reduce the Houthis’ capability to violate international law’. They were assisted by an RAF Voyager refuelling plane.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the airstrikes also targeted sites associated with the Houthi’s unmanned drone, ballistic and cruise missile, coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities.
Officials said the Houthi rebels, who have carried out a series of attacks in the Red Sea to disrupt shipping, had ignored a ‘final warning’ as Mr Sunak signed off on the raids during an emergency cabinet meeting last night.
Iran has been involved in ‘every phase’ of the Houthi attacks in recent months, a US official added.
Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, described the U.S. and Britain as having ‘committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression.’
‘They were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,’ he wrote online.
Houthi ‘targeting will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine,’ he wrote.
Since the attacks began in November, however, the Houthis have begun targeting vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade.
Separately, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi supreme political council, said today the strikes were ‘barbaric’.
And an advisor to Iraq’s prime minister, Fadi Al-Shammari, warned on Friday the West is expanding the conflict between Israel and Hamas and increasing tensions in the region.
Blaming the Houthis for ignoring ‘repeated warnings’, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement the strikes were ‘necessary and proportionate’.
An RAF Typhoon aircraft returns to base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking targets in Yemen on Friday
Huthi fighters brandish their weapons during a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 11
A map of Yemen including the area that is controlled by the Houthi rebels
The return of RAF Typhoon aircraft at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking military targets in Yemen
An RAF Voyager refuelling aircraft takes off to join the US led coalition to support air strikes against military targets in Yemen
The Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in November
Mr Sunak said in a statement: ‘Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week.
‘This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade.
‘The Royal Navy continues to patrol the Red Sea as part of the multinational Operation Prosperity Guardian to deter further Houthi aggression, and we urge them to cease their attacks and take steps to de-escalate.’
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps added: ‘The threat to innocent lives and global trade has become so great that this action was not only necessary, it was our duty to protect vessels & freedom of navigation.’
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes ‘targeted sites associated with the Huthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, ballistic and cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities’.
A joint statement by the United States, Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea said the ‘aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea’.
‘But let our message be clear: we will not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways in the face of continued threats,’ it said.
The Huthis said there was ‘no justification’ for the air strikes and warned that attacks on Israel-linked shipping would continue.
‘We affirm that there is absolutely no justification for this aggression against Yemen, as there was no threat to international navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas, and the targeting was and will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine,’ Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The Houthis have carried out a growing number of attacks on what they deem to be Israel-linked shipping in the key international trade route since the eruption of the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
On Tuesday, HMS Diamond, a £1billion Type 45 destroyer known as the jewel of the Royal Navy, shot down a series of drones fired by the rebels with a barrage of Sea Viper missiles – which travel three times the speed of sound. US fighter jets were also involved in that operation.
Dramatic pictures showed the moment the British Destroyer shot down the huge wave of missiles and drones fired by the Iranian-backed rebels.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps called Tuesday’s Houthi attack ‘the largest to date’ and said the UK had taken action to ‘protect innocent lives and the global economy’. He said none of HMS Diamond’s crew had been injured.
The rebels say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their targets are increasingly random, raising the risk of a US retaliatory strike on Yemen.
Personnel onboard HMS Diamond shoot down drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels
Personnel onboard HMS Diamond shoot down drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels
HMS Diamond, a £1billion Type 45 destroyer known as the jewel of the Royal Navy, shot down the targets with a barrage of sea viper missiles – which travel three times the speed of sound
The attacks are disrupting maritime trade through the Suez canal – a crucial route linking Europe with Asia and the Middle East – leading to delays and price rises for consumers.
The attacks on Tuesday by Houthi rebels were the last straw for Britain and the US, with the two nations launching a barrage of strikes at the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, also backed by Iran and engaged in cross-border fire with Israel, criticised the strikes as showing America as being a ‘full partner in catastrophes and massacres committed by the Zionist entity in Gaza.’
Yemen has been targeted by U.S. military action over the last four American presidencies.
A campaign of drone strikes began under President George W. Bush to target the local affiliate of al-Qaida, attacks that have continued under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the US has launched raids and other military operations amid the ongoing war in Yemen.
That war began when the Houthis swept into the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition including the United Arab Emirates launched a war to back Yemen’s exiled government in 2015, quickly morphing the conflict into a regional confrontation as Iran backed the Houthis with weapons and other support.
That war, however, has slowed as the Houthis maintain their grip on the territory they hold. The UAE even came under Houthi missile fire multiple times in 2022. After the Emirates left the war, Saudi Arabia reached a Chinese-mediated deal with Iran to ease tensions in hopes of finally withdrawing from the war.
However, an overall deal has yet to be reached, likely sparking Saudi Arabia’s expression Friday of ‘great concern’ over the airstrikes.
‘While the kingdom stresses the importance of preserving the security and stability of the Red Sea region, … it calls for restraint and avoiding escalation,’ its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Iran, which has supplied weapons and aid to the Houthis, condemned the attack in a statement from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.
‘Arbitrary attacks will have no result other than fueling insecurity and instability in the region,’ he said.
