Houthi rebels say at least 16 killed and 42 others wounded in joint US-British airstrikes in Yemen
DUBAI–The Houthi Al-Masirah television said on Friday 16 people had been killed and 35 wounded in U.S. and British strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah province. The outlet reported that the strikes targeted a radio building in Hodeidah’s Al-Hawk district and port of Salif.
The U.S. and British militarizes said they launched strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday as part of efforts to deter the militant group from further disrupting shipping in the Red Sea.
The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that U.S. and British forces had hit 13 targets in Houthi-controled areas of Yemen.
The British defense ministry said the joint operation targeted three locations in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which it said housed drones and surface-to-air weapons.
“As ever, the utmost care was taken in planning the strikes to minimize any risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure,” the British defense ministry said in a statement.
“Conducting the strikes in the hours of darkness should also have mitigated yet further any such risks.”
Houthi spokesperson Mohamed Abdelsalam said the strikes constituted a “brutal aggression” against Yemen as “punishment” for its position in support of Gaza.
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas militants, drawing U.S. and British retaliatory strikes since February.
By Reuters