Washington:
The United States and Britain struck dozens of targets in Yemen on Saturday in response to repeated attacks on shipping by Iran-backed Huthi rebels that have disrupted global trade and endangered lives.
The joint airstrikes in Yemen come a day after a wave of unilateral US strikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria, carried out in response to the killing of three US soldiers in Jordan on January 28.
The strikes hit “36 Huthi targets in 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Huthis' continued attacks on international and commercial shipping and on naval vessels transiting the Red Sea,” the United States, Britain and other countries said provided support for the operation. said in a statement.
“These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities the Huthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent sailors,” the statement said.
The attack “hit locations associated with the Huthis' deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems and radars.”
US forces earlier Saturday carried out separate attacks on six Huthi anti-ship missiles “prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea”, the Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
The military command also said on Saturday that US forces shot down eight drones near Yemen the day before and destroyed another four before they could be launched.
CENTCOM said the four drones hit on the ground belonged to the Huthis, but did not identify any country or group linked to the drones shot out of the sky.
The Huthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked ships in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the war between Israel and Hamas.
US and British forces have responded with attacks on the Huthis, who have since also declared US and British interests legitimate targets.
In addition to the attacks against the Huthis, the United States has established a multinational naval task force aimed at protecting shipping on the transit route, which carries up to 12 percent of global trade.
Anger over Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza – which began after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 – has grown across the Middle East, fueling violence between Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Last weekend, a drone crashed into a base in Jordan, killing three American soldiers and wounding more than 40 — an attack that Washington blamed on Iranian-backed forces.
The United States responded Friday with strikes on dozens of targets at seven Tehran-linked facilities in Iraq and Syria, but did not hit Iranian territory.
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