The US Defense Department has said that its first night of attacks on Yemen – late on Thursday – involved more than 150 munitions fired from US and UK “maritime and air platforms” that targeted more than 16 locations controlled by Houthi forces.

Sites attacked included Houthi weapons depots, launch sites, air defence radars, “command and control nodes”, and “production facilities”, the department said.

US Army Lieutenant General Douglas Sims said in a statement that he felt “pretty confident we did good work on that”.

“We know precisely the capability that the Houthis have been employing against the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb [strait],” he said.