Armed supporters of the Houthi rebel movement during a pro-Palestinian rally, in Sanaa (Yemen), February 8, 2024. MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP
The United States announced that it had carried out strikes on Thursday, February 8, targeting four surface drones and seven cruise missiles. “ready to be launched against ships in the Red Sea” by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
These drones and missiles, which have been “identified in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis”represented “an imminent threat” for navigation, the United States Middle East Command (Centcom) said on.
The US military had earlier confirmed that it had carried out new strikes on Wednesday on sites of the Houthi rebels, supported by Iran. It was about “self-defense strikes against two mobile anti-ship missile systems ready to be launched against ships in the Red Sea”, Centcom had declared. Later that day, American forces led “a second strike against a mobile surface-to-surface cruise missile system ready for launch”added the same source.
The Houthi news agency, Saba, reported on Tuesday what the rebels said were new US-British strikes in Hodeida province. These had targeted the area of Ras Issa, in the town of Souleif, according to Saba, and an employee of a refinery in this locality, Alaa, assured Agence France-Presse that he had heard two explosions.
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Ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeted since November
Since November, Houthi rebels have said they have targeted ships they believe are linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, “solidarity” with the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, a territory bombed and besieged by the Jewish state, at war against Hamas. Their attacks have forced many shipowners to suspend passage through this area, where 12% of world trade passes.
Israel’s first ally, Washington, which announced to once again designate the Houthis as an entity “terrorist”set up a multinational coalition in December to ” protect “ maritime traffic. The latter having not yet allowed a cessation of attacks, American and British forces have carried out several strikes on Yemen since mid-January.
The Houthis control a large part of Yemen, after almost a decade of war in this poor country on the Arabian Peninsula, also facing a serious humanitarian crisis.
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2024-02-09 09:08:28
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