Houthis vow retaliation after US, British airstrikes kill 5 in Yemen

Xinhua

Yahya Sarea, a spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi armed forces, issues a statement on January 12.

The Houthi group declared Friday that all American and British interests have become “legitimate targets,” as a strong and defiant response to the recent military operation launched by the United States and the United Kingdom against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The statement was made by the Supreme Political Council, the highest body of the Houthi group, which was broadcast by the group’s official media.

Describing the military operation as “treacherous and blatant American-British aggression,” the Houthi statement condemned the attack as an unlawful act that violated international laws.

The group argued that “this aggression posed a real threat to international peace and security, and warned of the consequences that would be borne by the Americans, the British, and the Zionists.”

The Houthi statement emphasized that the group’s response was “legitimate and justified within the context of defending Yemen’s sovereignty, independence, and freedom of decision-making.”

It made it clear that the armed forces of Yemen would not allow the aggressors to escape punishment.

The Houthi group claimed that the presence of American and British forces, as well as their allies, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait was a threat to international navigation and vowed to deal with it “appropriately.”

Its leadership urged neighboring Arab countries and all other countries to refrain from involvement and highlighted the potential consequences of siding with the aggressors.

Earlier in the day, the United States and the United Kingdom launched a series of strikes on Houthi targets in the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa and other provinces under the group’s control.

The strikes came in response to the Houthis’ recent strikes in the Red Sea targeting what it called Israeli ships and those destined for Israel.