SANAA: The United States and Britain launched a second round of joint military strikes on Yemen on Tuesday over the attacks on Red Sea shipping, as they vowed to hit back.
The latest raids of the capital Sanaa around midnight, hit eight targets, a joint US-UK statement said, while Yemenis listed 18 strikes across their territory.
US and British forces carried out a first wave of strikes against the Yemeni group earlier this month, and the United States launched further air raids against missiles that Washington said posed imminent threats to both civilian and military vessels.
But Yemenis have continued their attacks on shipping -- just one part of a growing crisis in the Middle East linked to the Gaza war, which has raised fears of a broader war directly.
The latest US-UK strikes were against "eight targets in Yemen in response to the attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea", they said in a joint statement with other countries that supported the military action.
The US Central Command said in a separate statement that the targets of the strikes "included missile systems and launchers, air defence systems, radars and deeply buried weapons storage facilities".
On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged an end to the attacks on shipping and told parliament the UK was "not seeking a confrontation," but that the country would "not hesitate" to respond to further incidents.
"We cannot stand by and allow these attacks to go unchallenged," he said.
Earlier, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the Yemeni group had carried out more than 12 attacks on shipping since the first wave of joint strikes on January 11.
The Yemeni group remained defiant, with military spokesman Yahya Saree promising a response.
"These attacks will not go unanswered and unpunished," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, listing 18 strikes in Sanaa, Hodeida, Taez and Al-Bayda provinces.
A senior US military official said the strikes were carried out using a combination of precision-guided munitions from US and British aircraft, and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
There were no concerns about civilian casualties at the sites that were hit, while Yemeni losses were unknown, the official told journalists.
"The targeting was very specific and... very deliberate to go after the capability that they are using to attack maritime vessels in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and Gulf of Aden," the official added. — AFP
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