Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen were targeted by additional US airstrikes on Friday, a day after a large-scale US and British airstrike against the militant group.
The latest airstrike targeted a radar site used by the Houthis to attack shipping traffic in the Red Sea and was narrower in scope compared to Thursday’s offensive, US officials told multiple media outlets.
The attack was carried out unilaterally by US forces, a US official told CNN, after the militant group launched at least one anti-ship ballistic missile on Friday in response to the initial attack led by the US and the UK.
“So we saw an anti-ship ballistic missile that was fired today,” Army Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II told reporters during a briefing. “That didn’t affect any ships of any kind, and we’re still working on it.”
“My guess is that the Houthis are trying to figure things out on the ground and trying to determine what capabilities still exist for them,” he added. “But I would expect — as you know, their rhetoric has been pretty strong and pretty lofty — that they would try some kind of retaliation.”
President Biden warned that the Houthis risked additional attacks if they continued attacking transport ships. REUTERS The latest attack comes after the Houthis launched another missile into the Red Sea on Friday, according to a Pentagon official. UK Ministry of Defense/UPI/Shutterstock
More than 60 targets in 28 locations in Yemen were hit Thursday night after President Biden authorized military action against the Houthis in response to repeated missile and drone attacks on US and foreign transport ships in the Red Sea.
“These attacks have endangered American personnel, civilian sailors and our partners, endangered commerce and threatened freedom of navigation,” Biden, 81, said in a statement released after the first attacks.
The president warned Friday that Tehran’s representatives could face additional military action if they continue to disrupt sea routes.
“We will be sure to respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior alongside our allies,” Biden told reporters on Friday.
Iranian protesters burn representations of British and American flags during a protest against the U.S. and British military attack on the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, outside the British embassy in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 12, 2024. AP U.S. and British forces It hit more than 60 targets in 28 locations in Yemen on Thursday night. UK Ministry of Defense/UPI/Shutterstock
A senior Houthi official threatened that the United States and the United Kingdom would pay a “heavy price” for the attacks.
“The United States and Britain will certainly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the terrible consequences of this blatant aggression,” Hussein al-Ezzi wrote in X.
Five Houthi fighters were killed and six wounded in Thursday’s attack, according to Houthi military spokesman Brig. General Yahya Saree.
“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for their criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered or unpunished,” he warned.
Iranian officials charged that the attacks were “a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a violation of international law.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn