UK and US must 'prepare to pay' for strikes on Yemen, warn
Iran-backed Houthi rebels who say coalition raids on 60 targets killed
five fighters - as Russia wades in and accuses West of 'violating
international law'
By Rachael Bunyan
Furious
Houthi forces have vowed to retaliate to a scale 'beyond the
imagination' of the West after heavy UK and US air strikes pounded
targets across rebel-held areas of Yemen overnight.
British
and American fighter jets and warships launched more than 100 precision
missiles at over 60 targets in Houthi-held territory in Yemen, with the
strikes hitting an airbase, an airport and military camp in a dramatic
escalation of the war in the Middle East.
The
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have now vowed to respond to the attacks
they claim have killed at least five fighters, with leaders saying the
UK and US must 'prepare to pay a heavy price' for their 'blatant
aggression'.
Responding
to the strikes, the group's spokesperson Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said the
US and Britain had 'made a mistake launching the war in Yemen'. He
added: 'Soon they will realise that the direct aggression against Yemen
was the greatest folly in their history'.
Ali
al-Qahoum, a high-ranking Houthi official, went further and said: 'The
battle will be bigger... and beyond the imagination and expectation of
the Americans and the British.'
Hussein
al-Ezzi, a Houthi official in their Foreign Ministry, vowed: 'America
and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and
bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression'.
Russia, a key ally of Iran,
also waded into the row, condemning the strikes as a 'violation of
international law aimed at an escalation in the region to attain their
destructive objectives'.
And Turkey's President Recep Tayyup Erdogan today condemned the strikes as 'disproportionate' while accusing the UK and US of turning the Red Sea into a 'sea of blood'.
Britain
and America launched strikes from the sea and air in response to months
of disruptive attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis,
with a coalition of nations including the UK and US forced to deploy
warships to protect them.
Footage taken from an RAF Typhoon PoOD over Yemen, showing a targeted strike
An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the US led coalition to conduct air strikes against military targets in Yemen
A missile is launched from a
warship during the U.S.-led coalition operation against military targets
in Yemen, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia overnight
Huthi fighters brandish their
weapons during a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the
Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 11
One of four RAF Typhoon aircraft
returning to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after joining the US-led coalition
conducting air strikes against military targets in Yemen on Friday
An unverified image appeared to show the result and British and US airstrikes in Yemen tonight
The Houthis, an armed
movement that took control of most of Yemen over the past decade, have
been attacking shipping at the mouth of the Red Sea - one of the world's
busiest trade lanes - since October. The action is in support of Hamas
terrorists who are fighting Israeli forces, they say.
More
than a dozen sites were bombed by Western forces overnight in raids
which included submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.
The
strikes hit Al-Dailami Air Base north of Sanaa, the airport in the port
city of the Hodeida, a camp east of Saada, the airport in the city of
Taiz and an airport near Hajjah, according to Al-Masirah news channel.
Four
of Britain's RAF Typhoons used Paveway IV guided bombs to 'conduct
precision strikes' on two targets that had been chosen to 'reduce the
Houthis' capability to violate international law'. They were assisted by
an RAF Voyager refuelling plane.
US
defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the airstrikes also targeted sites
associated with the Houthi's unmanned drone, ballistic and cruise
missile, coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities.
Officials
said the Houthi rebels, who have carried out a series of attacks in the
Red Sea to disrupt shipping, had ignored a 'final warning' as Mr Sunak
signed off on the raids during an emergency cabinet meeting last night.
Iran has been involved in 'every phase' of the Houthi attacks in recent months, a US official added.
The
pre-dawn air strikes add to escalating fears of wider conflict in the
region, where violence involving Tehran-aligned groups in Yemen as well
as Lebanon, Iraq and Syria has surged since the Israel-Hamas war began
in early October.
The strikes have fuelled anger in the Middle East, with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Oman all condemning the move by the UK and US.
Mohammed
Abdul-Salam, the Houthis' chief negotiator and spokesperson, described
the U.S. and Britain as having 'committed foolishness with this
treacherous aggression.'
'They were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,' he wrote online.
He
said said 73 strikes had killed five of the group's fighters and
wounded six others. The attacks would not go without 'punishment or
retaliation' and the group will continue to target ships headed for
Israel, added. .
Since the attacks
began in November, however, the Houthis have begun targeting vessels
with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key
route for global trade.
Separately, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi supreme political council, said today the strikes were 'barbaric'.
Hamas also warned today of 'repercussions' following the strikes on their allies.
'We
vigorously condemn the flagrant American-British attack on Yemen. We
hold them responsible for the repercussions on regional security,' Gaza
rulers Hamas said on Telegram.
And
an advisor to Iraq's prime minister, Fadi Al-Shammari, warned on Friday
the West is expanding the conflict between Israel and Hamas and
increasing tensions in the region.
Iran,
which supports armed groups around the Middle East including both the
Houthis and Hamas, also 'strongly condemned' the US and British attacks,
describing them as 'illegal and escalatory'.
Meanwhile, Russia,
an ally of Iran and a partner of key Arab powers, called for an urgent
meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday to discuss the
issue.
'We strongly condemn these
irresponsible actions by the United States and its allies,' Maria
Zakharova, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, told reporters.
'A
large-scale military escalation in the Red Sea region could strike out
the positive trends that have emerged recently in the Yemeni settlement
process, as well as provoke a destabilisation of the situation
throughout the Middle East.'
Russia,
which has been criticised for what the West says is an illegal war in
Ukraine, said the attack on Yemen took place without any mandate from
the United Nations and was thus an illegal 'adventure' by the United
States and its allies.
Meanwhile,
Oman's Foreign Minister said the attacks went against the country's
advice and 'will only add fuel to an extremely dangerous situation'.
Blaming
the Houthis for ignoring 'repeated warnings', UK Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak said in a statement the strikes were 'necessary and
proportionate'.
And NATO on Friday said
the US-led strikes were aimed at protecting shipping through the Red
Sea and urged Iran to 'rein in its proxies'.
'These
strikes were defensive, and designed to preserve freedom of navigation
in one of the world's most vital waterways. The Houthi attacks must
end,' Dylan White, a spokesman for the Western military alliance, said.
An aircraft takes off to join the
U.S.-led coalition to conduct air strikes against military targets in
Yemen in a picture released on Friday
An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off
to join the U.S.-led coalition from RAF Akrotiri to conduct air strikes
against military targets in Yemen in picture released on Friday
An aircraft takes off to join the U.S.-led coalition operation against military targets in Yemen on Thursday night
A military aircraft takes off from the US and British naval fleet on Thursday night
An RAF Typhoon aircraft returns to base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking targets in Yemen on Friday
Huthi fighters brandish their
weapons during a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the
Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 11
A map of Yemen including the area that is controlled by the Houthi rebels
Mr
Sunak said in a statement: 'Despite the repeated warnings from the
international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks
in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week.
'This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade'The
Royal Navy continues to patrol the Red Sea as part of the multinational
Operation Prosperity Guardian to deter further Houthi aggression, and
we urge them to cease their attacks and take steps to de-escalate.'
Defence
Secretary Grant Shapps added: 'The threat to innocent lives and global
trade has become so great that this action was not only necessary, it
was our duty to protect vessels & freedom of navigation.'
US
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes 'targeted sites
associated with the Huthis' unmanned aerial vehicle, ballistic and
cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities'.
A
joint statement by the United States, Britain, Australia, Bahrain,
Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea
said the 'aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in
the Red Sea'.
'But let our message be
clear: we will not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of
commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways in the face of
continued threats,' it said.
German
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Friday that Germany backs the
United States-led strikes on Houthi targets in the Red Sea.
'The
reaction has our political support,' Baerbock said from Kuala Lumpur
after a meeting with Malaysia's Foreign Minister, Mohamad Hasan,
according to the news agency dpa.
She
criticized the Houthis for 'contributing to the destabilization of an
already tense regional situation' with their attacks on cargo ships in
the Red Sea, calling on the group to 'stop these attacks immediately.'
On
Friday, Armed Forces Minister James Heappey played down concerns about
the danger of escalation after criticism from Russia, which requested an
emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the strikes.
There
are fears over a dramatic regional widening of the Israel-Hamas war in
Gaza and rising tensions with Iran, which backs the Houthis and has
condemned the air strikes.
Saudi Arabia has expressed 'great concern' over the situation and has called for 'restraint and avoiding escalation'.
Mr
Heappey told BBC Breakfast: 'Clearly there is nervousness amongst those
partners in the region that there could be some sort of escalation, but
we were confident that these limited, proportionate, necessary strikes
that went in last night were what was necessary to disrupt the Houthis'
ability to attack our warships that are protecting shipping in the
southern Red Sea.
'And clearly nobody should see this as part of anything bigger.'
The minister also said the the Government's 'legal position is sound' and that no more UK strikes are planned for the moment.
Mr
Sunak, early on Friday morning, said it 'cannot stand' that the Houthis
continued to carry out 'dangerous' attacks against commercial vessels
in the Red Sea despite repeated warnings from the international
community.
'The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade.'
The
Prime Minister, who is making a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday,
held a full Cabinet call the previous evening in which ministers
discussed the response to disruption on the key global shipping route.
In an unusual move, the Government briefed Sir Keir Starmer and shadow defence secretary John Healey after the call.
Sir
Keir on Friday expressed support for the action but called for Mr Sunak
to make a statement to Parliament 'at the first opportunity'.
With
the Commons having finished business for the week and the Prime
Minister having no plans to recall Parliament, the Labour leader
accepted any statement to MPs was not likely to come before Monday.
'I
do want the Prime Minister obviously to make a statement to Parliament
as soon as possible because the scope, nature and extent of the
operation needs to be explained,' Sir Keir said.
He said he also wanted a summary of the Government's legal position to be published.
The Liberal Democrats demanded a vote on the matter, and the SNP said any military action should be scrutinised in the Commons.
Last
night the RAF launched targeted strikes against Houthi military
facilities in response to a series of attacks on international shipping
in the Red Sea
The return of RAF Typhoon aircraft at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking military targets in Yemen
One of four RAF Typhoon aircraft
taking off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to join the US-led coalition
conducting air strikes against military targets in Yemen last night
An RAF Voyager refuelling
aircraft takes off to join the US led coalition to support air strikes
against military targets in Yemen
'Parliament
should not be bypassed. Rishi Sunak must announce a retrospective vote
in the House of Commons on these strikes, and recall Parliament this
weekend,' Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said.
Parliament cannot be recalled without the Government asking the Commons Speaker to do so, and such requests are rare.Meanwhile,
the Ministry of Defence said early indications are the strikes dealt a
'blow' to the Houthis' ability to threaten merchant shipping in the Red
Sea, through which some 15% of the world's shipping passes.
In
response, the Houthis said there was 'no justification' for the air
strikes and warned that attacks on Israel-linked shipping would
continue.
'We affirm that there is
absolutely no justification for this aggression against Yemen, as there
was no threat to international navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas,
and the targeting was and will continue to affect Israeli ships or those
heading to the ports of occupied Palestine,' Huthi spokesman Mohammed
Abdulsalam posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The
Houthis have carried out a growing number of attacks on what they deem
to be Israel-linked shipping in the key international trade route since
the eruption of the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
The
United States and allies have deployed a naval task force to the area
to protect ships, and US and British warships had shot down 21 drones
and missiles on Tuesday to repel the biggest Houthi attack so far.
HMS
Diamond, a £1billion Type 45 destroyer known as the jewel of the Royal
Navy, shot down a series of drones fired by the rebels with a barrage
of Sea Viper missiles - which travel three times the speed of sound. US
fighter jets were also involved in that operation.
Dramatic
pictures showed the moment the British Destroyer shot down the huge
wave of missiles and drones fired by the Iranian-backed rebels.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps called
Tuesday's Houthi attack 'the largest to date' and said the UK had taken
action to 'protect innocent lives and the global economy'. He said none
of HMS Diamond's crew had been injured.
The rebels say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their targets are increasingly random, raising the risk of a US retaliatory strike on Yemen.
Personnel onboard HMS Diamond shoot down drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday
Personnel onboard HMS Diamond shoot down drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday
HMS Diamond, a £1billion Type 45
destroyer known as the jewel of the Royal Navy, shot down the targets
with a barrage of sea viper missiles on Tuesday - which travel three
times the speed of sound
The attacks are disrupting maritime trade through the Suez canal - a crucial route linking Europe with Asia and the Middle East - leading to delays and price rises for consumers.
The
attacks on Tuesday by Houthi rebels were the last straw for Britain and
the US, with the two nations launching a barrage of strikes at the
Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, also backed by Iran and engaged in
cross-border fire with Israel, criticised the strikes as showing America
as being a 'full partner in catastrophes and massacres committed by the
Zionist entity in Gaza.'
Yemen has been targeted by U.S. military action over the last four American presidencies.
A
campaign of drone strikes began under President George W. Bush to
target the local affiliate of al-Qaida, attacks that have continued
under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the US has launched raids and
other military operations amid the ongoing war in Yemen.
That
war began when the Houthis swept into the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A
Saudi-led coalition including the United Arab Emirates launched a war to
back Yemen's exiled government in 2015, quickly morphing the conflict
into a regional confrontation as Iran backed the Houthis with weapons
and other support.
That war, however,
has slowed as the Houthis maintain their grip on the territory they
hold. The UAE even came under Houthi missile fire multiple times in
2022. After the Emirates left the war, Saudi Arabia reached a
Chinese-mediated deal with Iran to ease tensions in hopes of finally
withdrawing from the war.
However, an
overall deal has yet to be reached, likely sparking Saudi Arabia's
expression Friday of 'great concern' over the airstrikes.
'While
the kingdom stresses the importance of preserving the security and
stability of the Red Sea region, ... it calls for restraint and avoiding
escalation,' its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Iran,
which has supplied weapons and aid to the Houthis, condemned the attack
in a statement from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.
'Arbitrary attacks will have no result other than fueling insecurity and instability in the region,' he said.
