US, UK Strike Yemen’s Houthis Again to Stop Red Sea Attacks

Peter Martin and Mohammed Hatem
·3 min read
2

(Bloomberg) -- The US and UK launched more airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen on Monday, the latest salvo in an effort to stop the Iran-backed group’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

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Monday night’s moves marked the eighth round of allied attacks on the Houthis since the first on Jan. 12. American and British forces said they hit eight targets, including an underground storage site and locations for launching missiles and carrying out air-surveillance.

The strikes were supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands. They were the most significant, according to the US, since the original ones earlier this month.

Residents in Yemen reported huge blasts at about midnight local time around Sanaa, the capital, and other areas.

“What we have done again is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks,” UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said to reporters.

The Houthis said the latest strikes “will not go without any response or punishment.”

The group has caused chaos for shippers by disrupting traffic through the southern Red Sea, a waterway that previously accounted for 12% of global seaborne trade.

The cost of shipping containers between Asia and the Mediterranean has more than tripled since early December, according to Freightos, a cargo-booking company.

The militants, who control much of north-western Yemen including Sanaa and the port of Hodeida, say their campaign is in support of Hamas in its war against Israel. They have vowed to continue attacking vessels until Israel pulls out of Gaza.

Two senior US officials said the Jan. 12 and 22 strikes have significantly reduced the Houthis’ ability to mount maritime attacks. The targets were carefully selected to avoid casualties and minimize the risk of escalation, the officials said.

The Houthi attacks and the US-led response have provoked fears of a wider regional war.

Earlier Monday, the US said two Navy SEALs who went missing during a mission on Jan. 11 to seize Iranian weapons bound for the Houthis are presumed dead. They are the country’s first publicly known military casualties linked to the conflict.

Two Missing US Navy SEALs Presumed Dead After Anti-Iran Mission

Last week, President Joe Biden acknowledged the strikes hadn’t had the intended effect, with the Houthis assaulting several ships, including US-owned ones, last week with missiles.

“Are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes,” Biden told reporters.

On Sunday, Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said military actions to deter the Houthis and other groups backed by Iran would take time.

“Deterrence is not a light switch,” Finer told ABC. “We are taking out these stockpiles so they will not be able to conduct so many attacks over time. That will take time to play out.”

Tensions in the Middle East have soared since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel. That killed about 1,200 people, while Israel’s retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive have killed more than 25,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.

Israel’s also trading fire almost daily with Hezbollah militants based in Lebanon. US bases in Iraq and Syria, meanwhile, have been hit multiple times by rockets fired by Iran-backed groups.

--With assistance from Tony Capaccio, Courtney McBride and Stuart Biggs.

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