UK launches strikes with US against Houthis in Yemen

The National

30-04-2025

The UK military conducted a joint military operation with the US in Yemen late on Tuesday against the Houthis, in their first involvement in the new intense American campaign targeting the Iran-backed group. "UK forces participated in a joint operation with US forces against a Houthi military target in Yemen. This action was in line with long-standing policy of the UK government," the British Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. "Royal Air Force Typhoons have successfully conducted strikes against a Houthi military target in Yemen," UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said. "We conducted these strikes, supported by the US, to degrade Houthi capabilities and prevent further attacks against UK and international shipping," he added. The UK conducted strikes, alongside the US, against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen when the Biden administration began a campaign in January 2024 but until this week had not been involved since President Donald Trump ordered more attacks on the country last month. The joint strike on 'a cluster of buildings' about 25km south of Sanaa took place on Tuesday night, according to the UK's Ministry of Defence, adding that drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were being manufactured there. It said the target was a facility being used by the Houthis to manufacture drones similar to the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 'The strike was conducted after dark, when the likelihood of any civilians being in the area was reduced yet further,' the ministry said. No information about casualties was provided and the US did not comment on the strike. The joint mission came a day after the Houthis said 68 people were killed after a detention centre for African migrants was struck. Recent US strikes have killed scores of people in Yemen, including 74 at an oil terminal earlier this month in the deadliest strike so far. Human rights groups and the United Nations have raised concerns about the killing of civilians during the Trump administration's intense bombardment of the war-battered country. The US has struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March 'killing Houthi fighters and leaders … and degrading their capabilities,' Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Tuesday in reference to attacks carried out since March 15. The United States Central Command had on Sunday said more than 800 targets had been hit since mid-March, saying hundreds of Houthi fighters had been killed as a result. Attacks by the Houthis have prevented cargo ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a route that normally carries about 12 per cent of the world's shipping traffic. The rebels say they are targeting shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israel's military response to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.