U.S. and U.K. Bomb Yemen, Expanding Regional War

A circulating video on social media captures the intense US and UK airstrikes on the coastal city of Hodeidah. #Yemen pic.twitter.com/sosbvKjBFC

— Ahmad Algohbary (@AhmadAlgohbary) January 12, 2024

Footage reporting to show U.S. and British Airstrikes earlier against Houthi Targets within Sana'a International Airport in the Yemeni Capital City. pic.twitter.com/uljmhXQr8e

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 12, 2024

⚡️Video of strikes in Yemen pic.twitter.com/zqFRMl08MX

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) January 11, 2024

RAF released footage of a Typhoon strike conducted last night in Yemen. Paveway missiles were used in this strike. pic.twitter.com/thwM6dKJst

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) January 12, 2024

The US and the UK on Thursday night launched strikes against more than a dozen sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, where the majority of Yemenis live, in a move that risks escalating the situation in the Middle East into a major regional war.

A US official told CNN that the strikes were launched by fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles fired by warships and submarines and that Houthi drone and missile sites were targeted. Yemeni media reported strikes in several cities, including the capital, Sanaa, and the Red Sea port of Hodeidah.

President Biden said in a statement that the strikes received support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain. He claimed that the US and Britain "successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation."

The bombing of Yemen came in response to Houthi attacks on Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea that started in protest of the US-backed Israeli onslaught in Gaza. The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have vowed not to back down in the face of the US military and said their attacks in the Red Sea will only stop once the Israeli slaughter in Gaza ends.

Ahead of the US and British strikes on Yemen, Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi vowed a strong response. "Any American attack will not remain without a response. The response will be greater than the attack that was carried out with 20 drones and a number of missiles," he said.

The chief negotiator for Yemen's Houthis said on Thursday the group's attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea do not threaten its peace talks with Saudi Arabia, blaming Israel's war in Gaza for dragging the Middle East into more regional conflict.

[...] The Houthis' top negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said the attacks in the Red Sea, however, had no impact on the peace process underway with Saudi Arabia, with the mediation of Oman and the United Nations.

"It has nothing to do with what is happening in the Gaza Strip, unless the Americans want to move other countries in the region to defend Israel which is another matter," he told Reuters.

[...] "The one who is dragging the region into a wider war is the one who allows the continuation of the aggression and the siege that continues for more than 100 days in the Gaza Strip," Abdulsalam said.

The group is seeking to pressure the Israelis and Americans into a ceasefire, including lifting the siege on Gaza and moving towards peace and dialogue, Abdulsalam added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken: I stand here as a Jew as well. My grandfather fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather survived Auschwitz, Dachau and Majdanek - I understand the horror of Hamas' actions.

- He continues to attempt to place blame on Russia for everything. pic.twitter.com/fFWXyiWG6R

— Russian Market (@runews) October 12, 2023