SANAA, Jan 13: The United States carried out a fresh strike Saturday on a Huthi rebel target in Yemen, the US military said, after the Iran-backed militants warned of further attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The strike on a Huthi radar site came a day after US and British forces hit scores of targets across the country, heightening fears that Israels war with Palestinian militant group Hamas could engulf the wider region.
Violence involving Iran-aligned groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria has surged since the war in Gaza began in early October.
The Huthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Gaza, have carried out a growing number of missile and drone attacks in the key Red Sea international trade route. They say they are targeting Israeli-linked shipping
Around 12 percent of global trade normally passes through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea entrance between southwest Yemen and Djibouti.
But since mid-November the rebel attacks have affected trade flows when supply strains are already putting upward pressure on inflation globally.
The Huthi attacks have followed Hamass unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel which sparked the war still raging in the besieged Gaza Strip.
US Central Command said Saturdays strike was "a follow-on action on a specific military target" related to the previous days strikes. The Huthis official media earlier said Al-Dailami airbase in Yemens rebel-held capital of Sanaa had been struck in the latest bombardment.
Britain, the United States and eight allies said strikes on Friday aimed to "de-escalate tensions", but the Huthis vowed to continue their attacks.
Analysts said the Western strikes are unlikely to stop the rebels.
They will "diminish but not end the Huthi threat to shipping," said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Huthis withstood thousands of air raids while battling a Saudi-led coalition for more than seven years. They earlier fought six wars against Yemens government between 2004 and 2010.
"All American-British interests have become legitimate targets" following the strikes, the rebels Supreme Political Council said.
Hussein al-Ezzi, the Huthis deputy foreign minister, said the United States and Britain would "have to prepare to pay a heavy price".
The rebels have controlled much of Yemen since a civil war erupted in 2014 and are part of an Iran-aligned "axis of resistance" against Israel and its allies.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all sides "not to escalate" in the interest of regional peace and stability, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on the strikes Friday, days after adopting a resolution demanding the Huthis immediately stop their attacks on ships. At the meeting, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned that no ship was safe from the Huthi threat in the Red Sea.
Russian Ambassador Vassili Nebenzia denounced the "blatant armed aggression" against the entire population of the country.
Washington last month announced a maritime security initiative, Operation Prosperity Guardian, to protect maritime traffic in the area but the Huthis kept up attacks despite several warnings.
With the strikes on Friday, the United States and Britain targeted nearly 30 locations using more than 150 munitions, US General Douglas Sims said, updating earlier figures.
President Joe Biden said he did not believe there were civilian casualties. —AFP
