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The US and Britain began launching strikes Thursday against Houthis-linked targets in Yemen – just days after the Iran-backed rebels carried out their “largest attack” to date on shipping vessels in the Red Sea, Reuters reported.
The retaliatory strikes mark the first time attacks have targeted Houthi militants since they began firing at cargo ships in the Red Sea last year.
Four US officials confirmed the US and British strikes while speaking anonymously to Reuters.
Officials have notified shipping executives that targets would include drone and missile launch sites, along with radar stations and weapons stockpiles in the coastal Yemeni city of Hodeida, and further inland in Hajjah, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Sites in the Yemeni capital, San’a, could also be targeted.
Tensions in the Red Sea have increased by the week since the Islamist extremist group began attacking and hijacking cargo ships passing through the vital Red Sea, a critical shipping corridor, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Their activities have ground commerce in the region to a halt and led some of the world’s largest shipping companies to cease operations in the Red Sea.
Despite repeated warnings from the US and allies that the Houthis would face “consequences” if they did not cease their attacks, the Houthis have repeatedly defied Western threats and continued their assaults.
The Houthis launched their largest and most complex attack yet on Tuesday, launching 18 drones and three missiles from sites in Yemen.
US and UK forces safely shot down weapons, leading US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to promise more “consequences,” but failing to elaborate on when or what they may include.
“I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that that might happen,” Blinken told reporters Wednesday. “We’ve been clear with more than 20 other countries that if it continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences.”
Other US leaders have echoed Blinken’s warning in recent days. White House defence spokesperson John Kirby also declined to “telegraph” US plans on Wednesday afternoon, but said, “We’re gonna do what we have to do.”
The Houthis have been preparing for the possibility of a US strike, the Journal reported, stockpiling their weapons in secure locations in populated areas — a tactic used by the similarly Iran-funded Hamas to deter attacks.
Houthi leaders promised to hit back with more force than ever before if the US-led coalition attacked them.
“Retaliation to any American strike will not only be at the level of the current operation, which included more than 24 drones and multiple missiles, but will be larger,” said Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
The Red Sea attacks have ostensibly been targeted at vessels bringing supplies to aid Israel, but experts have said the Houthis’, and Iran’s, motivations are much broader than that.
“The Houthis and the Iranians are dictating the transit of maritime vessels on the high seas. This is incredible and the world seems powerless to stop it,” Bill Roggio, a fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Post.
“This is all part of a greater Iranian plan to defeat the United States, to get the US to abandon the Middle East, so it could spread the Iranian Islamic revolution in Iraq and Syria, in Lebanon. To defeat Israel to defeat the Saudis,” Roggio said.
“The Houthis are playing their part".
紅海航運恐怖活動持續，美英開始對葉門胡塞武裝發動攻擊
根據路透社報，美國和英國週四開始對也門與胡塞武裝有關的目標發動襲擊，而就在幾天前，伊朗支持的叛亂子在紅海對運輸船隻進行了迄今為止“最大規模的襲擊” 。
這次報復性攻擊標誌著胡塞武裝自去年開始向紅海貨船開火以來首次針對胡塞武裝發動攻擊。
四名美國官員在接受路透社採訪時證實了美國和英國的攻擊事件。
根據《華爾街日報》報道，官員已通知航運業高層，目標將包括也門沿海城市荷台達以及內陸哈傑的無人機和飛彈發射場、雷達站和武器庫存。
也門首都薩那的地點也可能成為攻擊目標。
以色列與哈馬斯戰爭爆發後，伊斯蘭極端組織開始襲擊並劫持經過重要的紅海這一重要航運走廊的貨船，紅海的緊張局勢一周以來不斷加劇。
他們的活動導致該地區的商業陷入停頓，並導致一些世界上最大的航運公司停止在紅海的業務。
儘管美國及其盟國多次警告胡塞武裝如果不停止襲擊將面臨“後果”，但胡塞武裝卻一再無視西方的威脅，繼續發動襲擊。
週二，胡塞武裝發動了迄今為止最大規模、最複雜的襲擊，從也門境內發射了 18 架無人機和三枚飛彈。
美國和英國軍隊安全擊落了武器，導緻美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯承諾更多“後果”，但沒有詳細說明何時或可能包括什麼。
「我不會發電報或預測可能發生的任何事情，」布林肯週三告訴記者。 “我們已經向其他 20 多個國家明確表示，如果這種情況像昨天那樣繼續下去，將會產生後果。”
其他美國領導人最近幾天也回應了布林肯的警告。 白宮國防發言人約翰柯比周三下午也拒絕“透露”美國的計劃，但表示， “我們將做我們必須做的事情。”
根據《華爾街日報》報道，胡塞武裝一直在為美國發動攻擊的可能性做準備，他們將武器儲存在人口稠密地區的安全地點——伊朗資助的哈馬斯也採用這種策略來阻止攻擊。
胡塞領導人承諾，如果美國領導的聯軍襲擊他們，他們將以比以往更強大的力量反擊。
胡塞武裝領導人阿卜杜勒-馬利克·胡塞表示，「對美國的任何襲擊的報復不僅會達到目前行動的水平（包括超過24 架無人機和多枚導彈），而且還會更大規模。”
紅海攻擊表面上是針對為援助以色列運送物資的船隻，但專家表示，胡塞武裝和伊朗的動機遠不止於此。
「胡塞武裝和伊朗人正在規定海上船隻在公海的通行。 這是令人難以置信的，世界似乎無力阻止它，」保衛民主基金會研究員比爾·羅吉奧告訴《華盛頓郵報》。
「這都是伊朗擊敗美國、讓美國放棄中東的更大計畫的一部分，這樣它就可以在伊拉克、敘利亞和黎巴嫩傳播伊朗伊斯蘭革命。 擊敗以色列，擊敗沙特，」羅吉奧說。
「胡塞武裝正在發揮自己的作用。
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