WASHINGTON: US and British warplanes staged multiple strikes on Houthi positions on Saturday, with the Pentagon saying that their targets were advanced weapons storage facilities in Yemen.

The facilities contained various weapons used to target military and civilian vessels navigating international waters throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Pentagon claimed.

The Al Masirah television network reported three American and British raids that targeted the capital Sanaa’s southern Al Sabeen district.

“Eyewitnesses said they heard intense flying, along with explosions in different parts of the capital Sanaa,” Al Masirah reported.

The US and UK have repeatedly struck Houthi targets in Yemen since January in response to attacks by the rebels on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The rebels say the strikes, which have disrupted maritime traffic in a globally important waterway, target vessels linked to Israel and are intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.

In more than 100 Huthi attacks over nearly a year, four sailors have been killed and two ships have sunk, while one vessel and its crew remain detained since being hijacked last November.

Saturday’s strikes came three days after Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi criticised US president-elect Donald Trump for supporting Israel.

He said that normalisation deals between Arab countries and Israel brokered by Trump had failed to bring an end the Middle East conflict and that he would fail again in his second term.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2024