Yemen Monitor/News Room
The Houthi group on Friday announced that 16 people were killed while 41 others injured, and a number of commercial ships were damaged in US-British airstrikes on Hodeidah province western Yemen.
“US-British raids were carried out over the past few hours on Hodeidah, the capital Sana’a and Taiz province,” said Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesman, in a statement.
He added that the airstrikes on Hodeidah province “killed 16 people and wounded 41 others from the group.”
The statement noted that the airstrikes “damaged Hodeidah Radio building as well as the Coast Guard building in the port of Al-Salif, in addition to damaging a number of commercial ships in the port.”
Earlier, the Houthi group announced that “16 people were killed and 35 injured in US-British airstrikes on Hodeidah province.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that it had “succeeded in destroying 8 drones in areas controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and over the Red Sea.”
“US CENTCOM forces, alongside British armed forces, conducted multiple strikes against 13 Houthi targets in self-defense,” it added.
For its part, the British Ministry of Defense said that the joint operations targeted three sites in the Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah, noting that they were home to drones and surface-to-air weapons.
“As always, the utmost care was taken in planning the strikes to minimize any risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure,” the ministry said.
It added that carrying out the strikes at night was expected to “further mitigate any such risks.”
Since November, the Houthis have targeted more than 120 commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and recently expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They have said they are targeting ships linked to Israel, which is waging a brutal offensive against Gaza Strip. But the Yemeni government and experts say the Houthis’ targets are domestic aiming to escape internal crises and improve their image in the region.
In response, the United States and Britain have been carrying out a campaign of airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi group since January 11. As a result, the Houthis have announced the expansion of their operations to include US and British ships.
Last February, the European Union launched a military operation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden called “Aspanid” to combat the growing security threats in the Red Sea, promote freedom of navigation and support regional stability. In response to repeated Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, which have disrupted trade and raised the prices of goods.
