Defense News ,India :- On Monday, U.S. and British forces, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, conducted a new series of strikes in Yemen, aiming at a Houthi underground storage site and disabling missile and surveillance capabilities used by the Iran-aligned group against Red Sea shipping, as confirmed by the Pentagon.
The Houthis, who dominate the most populous regions of Yemen, claim their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians amidst Israel's strikes on Gaza. However, the repercussions of these Houthi actions extend beyond regional tensions, as they disrupt global shipping and raise concerns about potential global inflation. The situation has also heightened fears of broader instability in the Middle East, stemming from the fallout of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In this recent response, the joint statement from the U.S., Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands outlined strikes at eight different locations in Yemen. Approximately 25 to 30 munitions, including those launched from a U.S. aircraft carrier, were employed, according to a senior U.S. military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Despite eight rounds of previous strikes in the past month, Houthi attacks on shipping persist. U.S. officials assert that the strikes have, nevertheless, hampered the Houthis' ability to execute complex attacks, though specific figures on the destruction of missiles, radar, drones, or other military capabilities remain undisclosed.
British Defence Minister Grant Shapps stated that the latest strikes were carried out in self-defense, aiming to further diminish Houthi stockpiles and their capacity to pose a threat to global trade.
President Joe Biden, acknowledging the limitations of airstrikes in halting Houthi attacks, asserted that the military action would continue. The broader strategy concerning Yemen seeks to weaken Houthi militants without an explicit goal of defeating the group or directly confronting Iran, their main sponsor.
The current strategy involves a combination of limited military strikes and sanctions, intending to prevent a wider Middle East conflict while penalizing the Houthis for their Red Sea shipping attacks. The consequences are already visible, with container vessels opting to pause or divert from the Red Sea route leading to the Suez Canal. Many ships are compelled to take the longer journey via the Cape of Good Hope instead, disrupting the traditional and faster freight route from Asia to Europe.
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