US, UK renew aggression on Yemen's Hodeidah, Saada

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
1 Feb 2024 02:31
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Al Mayadeen's correspondent reports continuous US-British airstrikes on the al-Jabbana area north of Hodeidah.

This image provided by the US Navy shows an aircraft launching from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during flight operations in the Red Sea, on Jan. 22, 2024. (Kaitlin Watt/U.S. Navy via AP)

Al Mayadeen's correspondent in the Yemeni capital Sanaa confirmed Thursday that an ongoing US-British aggression is targeting the coastal city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea, west of Yemen.

Our correspondent mentioned that hostile warplanes are flying intensively over the skies of Hodeidah, coinciding with continuous US-British airstrikes targeting the al-Jabbana area north of Hodeidah.

Local Yemeni media reported that hostile warplanes carried out nine airstrikes on Hodeidah, adding that the aggression is still ongoing, and the sound of US planes flying in the city's sky can still be heard.

On Wednesday evening. the US-British aggression launched two airstrikes on Saada province, north of Yemen.

Later, the spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced that the naval forces of the YAF carried out a qualitative military operation targeting the American cargo ship "KOI" that was heading to the Israeli-occupied ports of Palestine with several appropriate naval missiles that directly hit the vessel.

In a statement, Saree said the operation came in triumph to the oppressed Palestinian people amid the ongoing Israeli aggression and in response to the American-British aggression on Yemen.

He added that the operation took place just hours after the naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted the American destroyer USS Gravely with several anti-ship missiles in the Red Sea, confirming that the strike was direct and accurate.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had earlier claimed that the destroyer shot down an anti-ship missile fired from Yemen toward the Red Sea and that no injuries or damage were reported.

The latest Yemeni announcement nips in the bud CENTCOM's claim and an earlier CNN report that cited four US officials as saying that a Yemeni missile came within one mile of USS Gravely before it was able to shoot it down.

The CNN report claimed that the attack on USS Gravely was the closest a YAF attack has come to a US warship in a series of attempts to hit US warships in the Red Sea. However, on January 25, Saree confirmed a confrontation with several US destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab.

Back then, the spokesperson for the YAF confirmed that the results of the confrontation included "directly hitting an American warship and forcing two American merchant ships to retreat and return."

The Yemeni Armed Forces employed "a number of ballistic missiles" in the operation that lasted for more than two hours, he specified, revealing that a number of these missiles reached their targets, despite the attempts of the warships to intercept them.

On Wednesday, Saree affirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces persist with their military operations: enforcing a blockade on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian seas until a ceasefire is achieved, and food and medicine are allowed into the besieged Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip.

The Brigadier General underlined that the Yemeni Armed Forces will confront the American-British escalation with escalation and will not hesitate to carry out wide and qualitative military operations "in response to any American or British foolishness against Yemen."

Elsewhere, Saree reiterated that all American and British ships in the Red and the Arabian seas are legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces as long as the two countries' aggression on Yemen persists.

Following the announcement, Ali al-Qahoum, a member of the political bureau of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, told Al Mayadeen that the YAF's operation came shortly after the US-British aggression on Saada, pointing out that this is a clear message of the readiness and preparedness of the Yemeni Armed Forces.

Al-Qahoum pointed to the US and UK's clear intentions for a ground escalation toward Yemen and preparations for a military operation using mercenaries.

Nonetheless, the Yemeni official emphasized that the operations carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces are ongoing and confirm that the YAF cannot be deterred from supporting Gaza.

In a related context, Hussein al-Azzi, the Deputy Foreign Minister in the Sanaa government, considered the British threat to use humanitarian aid as a weapon against the Yemeni people a "shameful downfall".

Al-Azzi underlined that British threats "will not deter the Yemeni people from continuing their just humanitarian support to civilians in Gaza," reiterating that maritime navigation in the Red Sea is "safe to all destinations, except for the Zionist entity."