The US and Britain struck 13 Houthi targets in several locations in Yemen on Thursday in response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, three US officials said.
There are no political, economic, or other factors that might influence our activities,” he said in a televised speech.
The militia has launched 27 ballistic missiles and drones in 12 operations against 10 ships in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean during the last seven days, Al-Houthi said, who disputed previous media reports that the militia had reduced its maritime strikes.
“Our actions have not decreased, but there has been a decrease in navigation and ship movement on the American and British sides, as well as a near-complete absence of Israeli activity.”
The Houthi leader’s threat to continue attacking ships came as the US Central Command announced on Thursday morning (Yemen time) that its forces had destroyed a new wave of drones and missiles fired by the Houthis over the international seas off Yemen, as well as foiled Houthi missile launches by destroying launchers.
The US military said it destroyed two missile launchers in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen on Tuesday night.
On the same day, the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea from areas under their control, and neither the US-led coalition nor foreign commercial ships were targeted.
Two drones fired by the Houthis in Yemen over the Red Sea were intercepted by US forces before reaching their targets on Wednesday morning.
“It was determined these missiles and systems presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure,” the US military said in a statement.
Hours before the US military statement, the Houthis claimed on Wednesday night to have shot down another US military MQ-9 Reaper drone over the central province of Marib, shortly after locals shared images and videos on social media of what appeared to be a downed Reaper drone in the province’s desert.
The drone was engaged in a “hostile mission” above Marib when a “locally made” surface-to-air missile struck it on Wednesday morning, the Houthis said.
This is the sixth time the Yemeni militia has claimed to have shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone since the start of their Red Sea operation and the third in May.
The Houthis’ Red Sea activities resulted in the loss of one commercial ship, the capture of another, and the targeting of scores more ships in international maritime channels and pushed shipping companies to forgo the Suez Canal via the Red Sea in favor of longer and more costly routes across Africa.
Meanwhile, the Aden-based central bank sanctioned six Yemeni banks on Thursday for failing to follow an earlier directive to relocate their activities from Houthi-controlled Sanaa to government-controlled Aden.
The central bank ordered Yemeni banks and other financial institutions to stop doing business with Tadhamon Bank, Yemen Kuwait Bank, Shamil Bank of Yemen and Bahrain, Al-Amal Microfinance Bank, Al-Kuraimi Islamic Microfinance Bank, and International Bank of Yemen for dealing with the Houthis, which the Yemeni government and other countries consider terrorists, and not relocating their headquarters to Aden.
The central bank also instructed Yemen’s public and financial institutions to deposit all banknote denominations issued before 2016 at the central bank and other commercial banks in government-controlled areas of Yemen within 60 days.
The economic war between the Yemeni government and the Houthis has escalated since 2016 when the government shifted the central bank’s offices from Sanaa to Aden.
The Houthis replied by ceasing to pay public workers in regions under their control, banning the circulation of banknotes printed by the Yemeni government in Aden, and targeting oil terminals in government-controlled Shabwa and Hadramout.
According to the officials, American and British fighter jets and US ships hit a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide early details of an ongoing military operation.
Also struck by the US were eight uncrewed aerial vehicles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that were determined to be presenting a threat to American and coalition forces.
The strikes come a day after a US MQ-9 Reaper drone went down in Yemen, and the Houthis released footage they said showed the aircraft being targeted with a surface-to-air missile in a desert region of Yemen’s central Marib province. It marked the third such downing this month alone.
Also earlier this week, missile attacks twice damaged a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, with a private security firm saying radio traffic suggested the vessel took on water after being struck. While no group claimed responsibility, suspicion fell on the Houthis.
This is the fifth time that the US and British militaries have conducted a combined operation against the Houthis since Jan. 12. But the US also has been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as weapons that were prepared to launch.
The US F/A-18 fighter jets launched from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other US warships in the region also participated.
The Houthis in recent months have stepped up attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the US Maritime Administration.
Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.
US warships, meanwhile, took out a number of missile launchers and drones targeting vessels in the region over the past week.
President Joe Biden and other senior leaders have repeatedly warned that the US won’t tolerate the Houthi attacks against commercial shipping. But the counterattacks haven’t appeared to diminish the Houthis’ campaign against shipping in the region.
