- By Frank Gardner, security correspondent and Malu Cursino
- BBC News
January 13, 2024, 2:18 p.m. GMT
Updated 39 minutes ago
image description,
Satellite photos released on Friday are said to show damage in Hudaydah following attacks between the US and Britain on Friday
The United States said it carried out a fresh attack on a Houthi target in Yemen on Saturday, its second attack on the group that has attacked ships in the Red Sea.
The US said its latest attack was a “follow-up” against radar. The Houthis promised a strong response.
Later on Saturday, President Biden said the US had sent a “private message” to Iran about the Houthis.
“We delivered it privately and we are confident that we are well prepared,” Mr. Biden said, without giving details.
Iran denies involvement in Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
However, Tehran is suspected of supplying weapons to the Houthis and the US says Iranian intelligence is crucial in enabling them to attack ships.
Joint airstrikes between Britain and the US targeted nearly 30 Houthi positions in the early hours of Friday with support from Western allies including Australia and Canada.
A day later, U.S. Central Command said it carried out its latest attack on a Houthi radar site in Yemen using Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.
A Houthi spokesman told Portal that the strikes had not had a significant impact on the group's ability to influence shipping.
The Houthis are an armed group from a subgroup of Yemen's Shiite Muslim minority, the Zaidis. Most Yemenis live in areas under Houthi control. In addition to Sanaa and northern Yemen, the Houthis also control the Red Sea coast.
The official Western government line is that the ongoing airstrikes on Houthi targets are completely independent of the war in Gaza. They say they are “a necessary and proportionate response” to unprovoked and unacceptable Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
In Yemen and the wider Arab world they are seen rather differently.
There they are seen as the US and UK involvement in the Gaza war on Israel's side, as the Houthis have explained their actions as solidarity with Hamas and the people of Gaza. One theory even suggests that “the West obeys Netanyahu’s orders.”
It is still possible that these airstrikes will have a deterrent effect on the Houthis. They will certainly reduce their ability to attack ships in the short term.
But the longer these airstrikes continue, the greater the risk that the US and Britain will be drawn into another conflict in Yemen.
It took the Saudis more than eight years to extricate themselves after intervening in the country's civil war – and the Houthis are now more entrenched than ever.
More on the attacks between the USA and Great Britain in Yemen
According to the US, about 15% of global maritime trade passes through the Red Sea. This includes 8% of the world's grain, 12% of the world's marine oil and 8% of the world's liquefied natural gas.
According to the US, the group has attempted to attack and harass ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden 28 times.
Some major shipping companies have now ceased operations in the region, while insurance costs have risen tenfold since the beginning of December.
London and Washington have supported Israel following the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed about 1,300 people and took about 240 hostage.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign of airstrikes and ground operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed 23,843 Palestinians so far, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry on Saturday.