US aggression has entered an active phase: new strikes have been launched against Yemen

The US and UK are launching missile attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen. The Western powers said in a joint statement that 18 sites in eight communities were targeted, including missile storage facilities.

The United States and Britain on Saturday struck 18 Houthi targets, including underground weapons and missile storage facilities in Yemen, in the latest round of military action against what the West says is an Iranian-linked group that continues to target shipping in the region.

According to The Observer, the strikes hit Houthi targets in eight locations and also included air defense systems, radar and a helicopter, according to officials.

The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) said: “Four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 aircraft, supported by two Voyager tankers, again took part in a deliberate coalition strike on Saturday 24 February against Houthi military targets in Yemen, which carried out missile and drone strikes against commercial shipping. and coalition naval forces in Bab el-Sheikh – Mandab, southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. RAF aircraft were assigned several targets located at two sites. Intelligence analysis successfully identified several very long-range unmanned aerial vehicles used by the Houthis for both reconnaissance and strikes at a former surface-to-air missile battery several miles northeast of Sanaa. Our aircraft used Paveway IV precision bombs against the drones and their launchers, despite the Houthis using old missile batteries to protect the drones.”

The British Ministry of Defense added that “additional buildings” in the previously attacked Bani in north-west Yemen “were subsequently confirmed to have also been involved in drone and missile activity there and were therefore targeted in this latest strike.”

The US and UK, supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand, carried out “necessary and proportionate” precision strikes, the statement said, which are “aimed at disrupting and degrading the capabilities the Houthis use to threaten global trade, naval ships and the lives of innocent seafarers on one of the most important waterways in the world.”

The statement added: “Our goal remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, but we will reiterate our warning to the Houthi leadership: we will not hesitate to continue to protect lives and the free flow of trade in the face of ongoing threats.”

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV channel reported a “series of raids on the capital Sanaa,” while AFP correspondents reported hearing several loud bangs.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sari issued a defiant statement on social media in response to the strikes, promising that the rebels would “counter the US-British escalation with better military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arabian Seas.”

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps wrote on Platform X: “It is our duty to protect lives at sea and preserve freedom of navigation. That’s why the Royal Air Force launched a fourth wave of precision strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen. We worked alongside our allies to further weaken the Houthi drones and launchers used to carry out their dangerous attacks. I thank the brave British personnel involved in their service.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that they will bear the consequences if they do not cease their unlawful attacks, which are crippling Middle Eastern economies, harming the environment and disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen and other countries.”

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s maritime trade agency said it had received a report of the incident 70 nautical miles east of the Horn of Africa port of Djibouti and authorities were currently investigating.

In a televised speech, the rebel group’s military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the Houthis attacked the MV Torm Thor, a US-flagged oil tanker owned and operated in the Gulf of Aden.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of northwestern Yemen, have been attacking commercial shipping in the region since November. They say their attacks are aimed at showing support for Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.