Europe 1 with AFP // Credits: Mohammed Hamoud / ANADOLU / Anadolu via AFP
Houthi rebels vowed on Sunday to retaliate for US-British strikes against areas under their control in Yemen, carried out in response to attacks by these Iran-backed insurgents on merchant ships in the Red Sea. The raids followed a series of US strikes against elite Iranian forces and pro-Iran groups in Syria and Iraq, in retaliation for a deadly attack on a US base in Jordan on January 28.
This is the third joint US and UK operation against the Houthis in Yemen. American forces have also carried out, alone, strikes against rebel targets in the country at war since 2014. But despite the intensification of American operations, the Houthis have continued their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, saying targeting ships linked to Israel “in solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza, ravaged by the war between Israel and Hamas.
36 rebel targets targeted
The US-British strikes on Saturday targeted 36 rebel targets “in 13 locations in Yemen in response to continued Houthi attacks on international and commercial maritime traffic as well as warships transiting the Red Sea”, according to a joint statement from the States. -United States, the United Kingdom and other countries which supported the operation. “Deeply buried arsenals, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems and radars of the Houthis” were targeted, the text adds.
The Houthis began targeting maritime traffic in the Red Sea in November. And they designated American and British interests as legitimate targets after the strikes by these two countries.
“Climbing by climbing”
The new strikes “will not shake” the Houthis’ “support for the Palestinian people resisting in Gaza and will not go unanswered and without punishment,” warned Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson. Without mentioning any casualties, he reported 48 strikes in six provinces, including thirteen on the capital Sanaa and its surroundings, and nine in the Hodeida region, under Houthi control.
“Either there is peace for us, Palestine and Gaza, or there is no peace and no security for you in our region,” warned Houthi spokesperson Nasr al-Din Amer on Saturday. . “We will respond to escalation with escalation.” “We were scared when we heard the strikes” on Saturday evening, says Hamed Ghanem, 35, in Sanaa. “We had the hope that the war would end, but now God knows how long” it will last, laments this father of five children.
The poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula devastated by war, Yemen is experiencing a fragile lull after a UN-brokered truce in 2022. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday’s strikes were aimed “at degrading further the capabilities of the Houthi militia, supported by Iran, to carry out its destabilizing attacks. Early Sunday, the United States announced it had carried out a new strike against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was “ready to be launched against ships in the Red Sea.”
“Unacceptable”
Sworn enemy of the United States, Iran “strongly condemned” the American-British strikes, which according to it are in “contradiction” with their stated wish of “not wanting an extension of the conflict” in the Middle East. And Hamas denounced “an escalation which will drag the region into more unrest”. The war in Gaza was sparked by an unprecedented deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
The violence linked to the conflict has spilled beyond their borders. On January 28, a drone struck a base in Jordan, killing three American soldiers and injuring more than 40, an attack attributed by Washington to pro-Iran groups. The United States responded Friday with strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria, but did not strike Iranian territory. At the request of Russia, which has accused Washington of “sowing chaos” in the Middle East, the UN Security Council is due to meet urgently on Monday.