US and UK launch strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

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The United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) militaries launched missile strikes against Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen Thursday evening in response to the group’s continued targeting of commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea.

A senior military official and a senior Biden administration official speaking with reporters on background said the attacks were meant to “deter and disrupt Houthi missile, radar and UAV capabilities.”

Thursday’s strikes, which could be partly seen in video clips on social media, came after Houthi rebels launched nearly 20 drones and missiles “directly against U.S. ships,” the officials said.

US and UK launch strikes on Houthi targets

For weeks, Houthis, which the U.S. says is backed by Iran, has harassed, captured or targeted vessels crossing the Red Sea–it claims–in retaliation for Israel’s assault on Palestinians in Gaza.

As a result, dozens of commercial ships have had to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope. The impact on global commerce, and the threat of more Houthi attacks on vessels, led the U.S. and UK to conduct “this significant action with every objective and every expectation that it will degrade, in a significant way, the Houthis’ capability to launch exactly the sorts of attacks that they have conducted over a period of recent weeks,” officials said.

It marks the first strike by the U.S. since Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin established Operation Prosperity Gospel on December 18, 2023. The 22-nation coalition was formed to defend against Houthi attacks.

Officials didn’t say whether the strike achieved its objective, or the level of civilian casualties, but said a “significant” amount of Houthi salvos used to deploy weapons were destroyed.

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Escalation in the Red Sea continues

In an interview with the Black Wall Street Times last week, National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said the administration was doing everything it could to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.

“We have been, since the beginning of this conflict, concerned about spillover effects, particularly here at home,” Kirby told the Black Wall Street Times when asked about the threat to Americans in the States.

“We’ve been working closely with state and local authorities, since the 7th of October, to make sure we are all knitted up, and we have shared intelligence and shared information incase there are any visible viable threats that we can act to prevent them and to disrupt them,” he said. 

An hour after the evening strike, The Jerusalem Post reported a U.S. embassy in Iraq had been attacked.

 Notably, the situation transpires while Defense Secretary Austin remains hospitalized for prostate cancer after his office failed to notify President Biden or the public for days.

“There is no intent to escalate the situation. The aim is to degrade the ability of Houthis to continue carrying out these reckless attacks,” the officials said.