Joint US-UK aggression on Yemen, fourth in less than a week

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
18 Jan 2024 03:52
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CENTCOM confirms that its forces carried out strikes on 14 missiles that were loaded to be fired by the Yemeni forces.

Scenes from the US-British aggression that targeted several Yemeni provinces, on January 18, 2024. (Social media)

The Sanaa-based Yemeni news agency SABA reported that the United States and Britain renewed their aggression on Yemen early Thursday, targeting the provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Dhamar, al-Bayda, and Saada.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent mentioned that the US-UK aggression began with airstrikes on the provinces of Hodeidah and Dhamar and later extended to include the provinces of Saada, Taiz, and Al-Bayda.

According to our correspondent, the aggression was accompanied by the presence of surveillance aircraft flying over the western part of Yemen.

#WATCH | Scenes from the US-British aggression that targeted several Yemeni provinces.#Yemen pic.twitter.com/5jayHYMeu0
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 18, 2024

Our correspondent added that the joint aggression targeted Mount Sam'a, west of Saada city, and the Takhia area in the Majz district in Saada, northern Yemen.

Later, he mentioned that the US-British airstrikes targeted the military police in the south of Dhamar and the Technical Institute in the al-Saouma'a district in the al-Bayda province to the east.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that its forces carried out strikes on 14 missiles that were loaded to be fired by the Yemeni forces.

U.S. CENTCOM Strikes Houthi Terrorist Missile Launchers

In the context of ongoing multi-national efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on U.S. and partner maritime traffic in the Red Sea, on Jan. 17 at approximately 11:59 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central… pic.twitter.com/MMCQbzr1f7
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 18, 2024

A Yemeni official told Al Mayadeen that the US-British aggression has targeted five Yemeni provinces so far, noting that the US and UK forces bombed the same targets during their previous aggressions.

CBS cited a US official as saying that the United States has launched another round of strikes on targets in Yemen, which marks the fourth aggression launched by the United States against Yemen in less than a week.

Earlier, Pentagon press secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder claimed on Wednesday that US-led strikes on Yemen had "degraded" the Yemeni forces' ability to carry out operations in the Red Sea, but acknowledged that the US attempt to deter the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement has not succeeded so far.

The new joint aggression comes a few hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the United States is announcing the designation of Ansar Allah "as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group."

It also comes after the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out an attack against the American-owned Genco Picardy as it sailed through the Gulf of Aden. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that Yemeni forces hit the US-owned and operated commercial vessel.

The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that the attack came "In support of the plight of the Palestinian people and in solidarity with our brethren in the Gaza Strip, and within the framework of responding to the American-British aggression on our country."

Firing several anti-ship missiles, the Yemeni Armed Forces dealt "precise and direct hits" to the Genco Picardy.

Saree reiterated that the YAF will not hesitate to target "all sources of threat in the Arabian and Red Sea, within the legitimate right of defending [Yemen] and supporting the oppressed Palestinian people."

Moreover, he warned the United States and the United Kingdom of an inevitable response to their attacks on Yemen, adding that any renewed aggression "will not go without retaliation and punishment."

Following the repeated US-British aggression on Yemen, the Yemeni Supreme Political Council of the Sanaa government declared that now "all American and British interests have become legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces."

The Yemeni Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on maritime shipping companies to pursue their operations in the Red Sea "as long as they are not heading to the Zionist enemy."

The ministry said in a statement that operations targeting ships in the Red Sea are solely "limited to ships owned by the Israeli enemy or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine."