The United States and Britain renewed air strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi military sites at the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in western Yemen on Sunday.
This is the third such strike by US fighter pilots and the second by the UK Royal Air Force.
According a report by the AFP news agency quoting Houthi media, “Air strikes from the American-British aggression hit Hodeida.”
Yemeni sources also told Sky News Arabia that a Houthi position was bombed in the Al-Lahiya district north of Hodeida, overlooking the Red Sea. The report was confirmed by multiple other sources, including Al-Masirah TV.
The attacks are likely aimed at a fresh delivery of ballistic and naval missiles recently transferred to the area by Houthi terrorists with help from Iran and Hezbollah in hopes of protecting the weapons from air strikes.
The Houthis terrorists moved the ordnance to Hodeida and Sa’ada with direct assistance from Iran, according to a report by Asharq al-Awsat.
“The missiles and artillery which have been sent by Iran have entered through the ports of Saleef and Ras Issa,” the Yemeni Army was quoted by the news outlet as saying, adding that the Houthis had disassembled the weapons before the transfer.
The ordnance, comprised of ballistic and naval missiles, was moved in specialized trucks used for transporting auto parts, according to the report.
A team of Iranian and Hezbollah experts was waiting in Hodeida and Sa’ada to help reassemble the missiles and artillery upon arrival of the parts.
The move — and the air strike that followed — came in the wake of at least two other air strikes aimed at degrading the ability of the Houthis to threaten commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
“At 3:45 am (Sana’a time) on January 13, US forces conducted a strike against a Houthi radar site in Yemen. This strike was conducted by the USS Carney (DDG 64) using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on January 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement posted on Saturday.
“Since November 19, 2023, Iranian-backed Houthi militants have attempted to attack and harass vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden 28 times. These illegal incidents include attacks that have employed anti-ship ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles,” CENTCOM noted.
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea shipping lane, as well as in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, were launched in solidarity with fellow Iranian proxy Hamas in Gaza, after the terror group launched an invasion into southern Israel. The group slaughtered more than 1,200 people, wounded thousands more and abducted 250 others, of whom 136 remain captive in Gaza.
