The United States and the United Kingdom launched airstrikes Thursday on more than a dozen sites used by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed rebel group that has launched dozens of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The attack on bases came a day after the United Nations Security Council voted to condemn “in the strongest terms” more than 24 attacks carried out by the Houthis on merchant and commercial vessels.
Who are the Houthis and why did the U.S. and its allies launch an attack against them? Here’s what we know now:
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthis, an Iran-backed group of Shiite rebels based in Yemen, emerged in the 1980s in opposition to Saudi Arabia’s religious influence within Yemen.
The group has been involved in a civil war since then but has managed to take control of the country’s northwest territory, its capital, Sana, and the Red Sea coastline.
The group has an estimated 20,000 fighters and is led by Abdul-Malik al Houthi.
Who are they fighting?
Along with their fight against Saudi Arabia, the Houthis, backed by Iran, oppose Israel and the United States.
They align themselves with the militant groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and consider themselves a part of the Axis of Resistance.
After the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, the Houthis vowed to help Hamas in fighting against Israel.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said his forces were “ready to move in the hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy.”
What have they been doing since Oct. 7?
Yemen is located on the southeast coast of the Red Sea, where the sea meets the Gulf of Aden. The Red Sea is one of the world’s busiest waterways, allowing goods from Europe to be shipped to Asia and Africa and. by extension, to the rest of the world.
Soon after Oct. 7, Houthi fighters began to use missiles and drones — financed by Iran — to launch attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Those attacks disrupted supply chains and in turn increased costs for all types of goods for people around the world. The Houthis’ attacks have affected ships tied to more than 40 countries, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
On Nov. 19, the group seized a car carrier chartered by a Japanese company and abducted the crew.
Following the seizure of the Japanese chartered vessel, the Houthis said all ships they perceive as linked to Israel or its allies would “become a legitimate target for armed forces.”
Yahya Sarea, a Houthi spokesman, has said that the group is attacking ships to protest the “killing, destruction and siege” in Gaza and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, The New York Times reported.
What has been the response?
At first, the U.S. did not directly confront the Houthis in the weeks following the Oct. 7 declaration by the group. However, on Dec. 18, the U.S. announced the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian in response to repeated requests for help from merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
As Houthi attacks have escalated, so has the response from the countries around the world.
On Jan. 9, U.S. and British warships shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Houthis. The next day, Blinken warned the Houthis that further attacks could prompt a Western military response.
On Thursday, that response came when U.S. and British forces bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Houthis in Yemen.
What did the US and its allies do on Thursday?
On Thursday, that response came when U.S. and British forces bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Houthis in Yemen.
The massive retaliatory strike was launched using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. Air Force’s Mideast command said it struck more than 60 targets at 16 sites in Yemen, The Associated Press reported.
Sites hit included “command-and-control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air defense radar systems.”
President Joe Biden said that the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the U.S. and its allies “will not tolerate” the militant group’s ceaseless attacks on the Red Sea.
According to Biden, the attacks came only after attempts at diplomatic negotiations failed.
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