Heavy US and British air strikes pounded targets in rebel-held Yemen earlier today after weeks of disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping by Iran-backed Houthi forces acting in solidarity with Gaza, AFP reports.

Friday’s strikes targeted an airbase, airports and a military camp, the Huthi rebels’ Al-Masirah TV station said, with AFP correspondents and witnesses also reporting they could hear bombardments.

“Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines and warplanes,” Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Al-Ezzi said, according to official rebel media.

“America and Britain will have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” he said.

Unverified images on social media, some of them purportedly of Al-Dailami airbase north of Sanaa, showed explosions lighting up the sky as loud bangs and the roar of planes sounded.