Sanaa/Gaza:

The United States launched an additional strike against Yemen’s Houthi forces on Friday after President Joe Biden’s administration vowed to protect shipping in the Red Sea.

The latest attack, which the US said targeted a radar site, came a day after dozens of US and British attacks on Houthi facilities.

The guided-missile destroyer Carney used Tomahawk missiles in a follow-on attack early Saturday morning local time, US Central Command said in a statement on Twitter. For doing it less”. ,

The Houthi movement’s television channel Al-Masirah reported that the United States and Britain were targeting the Yemeni capital Sanaa with the raid.

US and British warplanes, ships and submarines fired missiles on Thursday against targets in Yemen controlled by the group, raising concerns about the escalating regional conflict, which has deployed its naval base in Gaza as support for Palestinians under siege by Israel. Has launched a campaign.

Even as Houthi leaders vowed retaliation, Biden warned on Friday that if they do not stop their attacks on merchant and military ships in one of the world’s most economically important waterways, he Can order more attacks.

“We will make sure that if the Houthis continue this outrageous behavior, we will respond to them,” Biden told reporters during a stop in Pennsylvania on Friday.

Witnesses confirmed explosions early Friday morning at military targets near airports in the capital Sanaa and Yemen’s third city Taiz, a naval base in Yemen’s main Red Sea port Hodeidah and military sites in the coastal Hajjah governorate.

White House spokesman John Kirby said the initial strikes targeted the Houthis’ ability to store, launch and guide missiles or drones, which the group has used in recent months to threaten Red Sea shipping. Have done.

The Pentagon claimed that the US-British strike had reduced the Houthis’ ability to launch new attacks. The US military said 60 targets were hit at 28 locations.

The Houthis, who control Sanaa and much of Yemen’s west and north, said five fighters were killed, but vowed to continue their attacks on regional shipping.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations Information Center said it had received reports of a missile landing in the sea about 500 meters (1,600 feet) from a ship about 90 nautical miles south-east of the Yemeni port of Aden.

Shipping security firm Ambre identified it as a Panama-flagged tanker carrying Russian oil.

Drone footage on the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV showed thousands of people in Sanaa chanting slogans condemning Israel and the United States.

“Your attacks on Yemen are terrorism,” said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council. “The United States of America is the devil.”

Biden, whose administration removed the Houthis from the State Department’s list of “foreign terrorist organizations” in 2021, was asked by reporters if he thought the term “terrorist” now describes the movement. “I think they are,” he said.

scatter

The Red Sea crisis is part of the violent regional escalation of Israel’s war with Hamas in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza.

More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in brutal Israeli air strikes and subsequent ground attacks on the Palestinian territories since October 7.

At the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield defended the Yemen strikes, saying they were aimed “to disrupt and degrade the Houthis’ ability to continue reckless attacks against ships and commercial shipping.”

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia previously said the US and Britain “single-handedly spread the conflict (in Gaza) to the entire region.”

“We have no interest in a war with Yemen,” Kirby said in Washington.

In a poor country just emerging from nearly a decade of war that has brought millions to the brink of famine, people are lining up at gas stations in fear of an extended new conflict.

surge in oil prices

The price of Brent crude rose more than $2 on Friday on concerns about supply disruptions, but later lost half of its gains. Biden said Friday he was “very concerned” about the impact of the war in the Middle East on oil prices.

Commercial ship-tracking data showed that at least nine oil tankers were transiting or transiting the Red Sea.

The attacks follow months of raids by Houthi fighters who boarded Israeli ships or ships headed to Israel.

The United States and some allies sent a naval task force in December and have seen an increase in numbers in recent days. On Tuesday, America and Britain shot down 21 missiles and drones.

However, not all major US allies decided to support attacks inside Yemen.

The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain provided logistical and intelligence support, while Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and South Korea signed a joint statement defending the attacks and warning of further action.

But Italy, Spain and France chose not to sign or participate out of fear of escalating broader tensions.

A senior US official accused Tehran of providing the Yemeni group with the military capacity and intelligence to carry out its attacks.

Iran condemned the attacks but so far there has been no indication that Iran is seeking direct conflict.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the White House could “restore security in the entire region” by halting its “entire military and security cooperation” with Israel.

Houthi attacks have forced commercial ships to take a longer, costly route around Africa, raising fears of a new wave of inflation and supply chain disruptions. Container shipping rates for major global routes have soared this week.