Houthis say US and UK will ‘pay heavy price’ for ‘blatant aggression’

The Houthi rebels have hit back and responded to the US and the UK launching airstrikes (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

The Houthis’ deputy leader has issued a dire warning to the US and the UK saying they will pay a ‘heavy price’ for striking rebel targets.

It comes after Britain and the US launched airstrikes which were approved during an emergency cabinet meeting yesterday evening.

Royal Air Force planes were sent to a number of locations in Yemen overnight and carried out ‘targeted strikes’ against military facilities, Rishi Sunak said.

Follow our Yemen airstrikes live blog for the latest updates.

So far strikes have been reported around Yemen’s capital Sana’s, Dhamar, the Houthi Red Sea port of Hudaydah, and north-western Houthi stronghold of Saada.

Mr Sunak added the strikes are ‘limited, necessary and a proportionate action in self-defence’.

The strikes are in response to attacks carried out by Iranian backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, Joe Biden said.

The president added that other countries including The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain provided support as part of the mission.

Yemeni protesters take part in a march in solidarity with Palestine yesterday (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron also posted about the response on X and wrote: ‘The UK and US have carried out targeted strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen.

‘The safety of UK vessels and the freedom of navigation across the Red Sea is paramount and that is why we are taking action.

‘As the UNSC has made clear, the Houthis must halt attacks in the Red Sea.’

Yemen itself is controlled heavily by Houthi rebels and are supporting Hamas in its war against Israel which broke out on October 7 2023.

Tension in the area has been rising after Yemen’s Houthi leader threatened the US with an even ‘larger’ response than an attack in the Red Sea which narrowly avoided deadly consequences early on Wednesday thanks to UK missiles.

It also comes after Iran claimed responsibility for the seizure of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after masked gunmen in military uniforms boarded the vessel.

Tension in the region increased ever since war broke out between Israel and Palestine (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

And on Wednesday, British and US forces repelled ‘the largest attack’ by Yemen-based Houthis in the Red Sea to date, putting the entire Middle East on its toes.

Houthi leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi began increasing attacks from his rebel group in November, as part of what they describe as a protest against Israel’s bombardments on occupied Palestinian territory.

But the call to strike them without parliamentary consent has already been met with opposition.

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Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf wrote on X: ‘The UK does not have a good record of military intervention in the Middle East.

‘It is therefore incumbent that Westminster is recalled, MPs briefed and allowed to debate and scrutinise any decision to pursue military action that the UK Government is proposing.’

The Houthis are considered an extremist movement that follows Zaydism, a branch is Shiite Islam.

The Houthis have struggled to restore their influence in Yemen since the last Zaydi ruler was overthrown in 1962, after 1,000 years of Zaydi rule.

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