The US and Royal Navy have launched retaliatory strikes against the Houthis. This was in response to the continued threat to Red Sea shipping.
The origin of the strikes is currently unknown, whether it came from US Navy Tomahawk missiles, naval aviation from an aircraft carrier, or Air Force jets coming from Saudi Arabia. Fox News says:
The United States and Britain carried out a series of air strikes on military locations belonging to Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen early Friday in response to the militant group’s ongoing attacks on vessels traveling through the Red Sea.
Fox News is told there were attacks on more than a dozen Houthi targets by air, surface, and subsurface platforms. The attacks were carried out with support from Australia, the Netherlands, Bahrain, and Canada. A U.S. defense official says the U.K. contributed aircraft.
The scope of the strikes is currently unknown, though Houthi generals have claimed that port cities such as Sanaa have been attacked. This is unlikely to deter the Houthis from continuing their attacks, who gain much prestige and credibility among regional actors for their boldness. The NY Times continues:
It was unclear whether the allied strikes would deter the Houthis from continuing their attacks, which have forced some of the world’s largest shipping companies to reroute vessels away from the Red Sea, creating delays and extra costs felt around the world through higher prices for oil and other imported goods.
The Houthis, whose military capabilities were honed by more than eight years of fighting against a Saudi-led coalition, have greeted the prospect of war with the United States with open delight. On Wednesday, before the strike, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the militia’s leader, threatened to meet an American attack with a fierce response.
The attacks could lead to further danger against US troops in Iraq and Syria. Both countries’s governments have asked the US to withdraw many times, to no avail. America could be on the verge of a mass evacuation in the region.
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