Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden have bombed more than a dozen sites in Yemen linked with the Iran-backed Houthis with Tomahawk missiles in a mission involving warships, submarines and fighter jets.
The Ministry of Defence said coalition forces identified key facilities involved in Houthi targeting of HMS Diamond and US Navy vessels on Tuesday “and agreed to conduct a carefully coordinated strike to reduce the Houthis’ capability to violate international law in this manner”.
Speaking early this morning, the Prime Minister said: “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.
“We have therefore taken limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence, alongside the United States with non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks, to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping.”
The US Air Force’s Mideast command confirmed it struck more than 60 targets at 16 sites in Yemen, including “command-and-control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air defense radar systems.”
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