London, May 31: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to protect British interests abroad after the Royal Air Force (RAF) carried out strikes against Houthi rebels.
The UK and US forces struck Houthi targets in Yemen in the fifth combined operation since January.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed strikes took place against the Houthis on Thursday as part of a response to Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. In a statement on Friday morning, Sunak said, “Last night, the RAF successfully conducted a fifth set of strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen alongside the US.”
“These strikes were conducted to further degrade the military capabilities of the Houthis and to prevent further attacks on international shipping.” “The strikes were taken in self-defence in the face of an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose.” Asked whether this new round of strikes risked escalation with Iran, Sunak said, “We have always said that we will not hesitate to protect British interests abroad and at home.” “There is an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose, 197 attacks since November, all our intelligence indicates that previous sets of strikes have been successful in degrading the military capabilities of the Houthis: targeting supply, command and control launch sites for missiles and there is also a risk in inaction that would damage the global economy and further risk our international security.”
The MoD said intelligence had confirmed two locations near Hudaydah as being involved with the anti-shipping attacks, with buildings identified as housing drone ground control facilities and providing storage for very long-range drones.Surface-to-air weapons used to impede coalition operations to safeguard shipping in the region were also believed to be on-site. A set of Houthi facilities at Ghulayfiqah, further south on the Yemeni coast, were also identified as being involved in the command and control of the group’s anti-shipping campaign.
Houthi rebels say 16 killed in US-British airstrikes
Joint British-US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 others, the rebels said Friday, the highest publicly acknowledged death toll by the rebels from the multiple rounds of strikes carried out over their attacks on shipping.
Three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe a then-ongoing attack, described the strikes Thursday as hitting a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. (Agencies)
They called it a response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war.