US INFORMED THE HOUTHIS PRIOR TO THE STRIKE… AND SO THEY PREPARED: REPORT

Mon 15 January 2024:

The American side alerted the Houthis before launching strikes on their sites in Yemen, last week Thursday (January 11,2024), Sky News Arabia reports.

Source familiar with matter told Sky News Arabia that the United States informed the Houthis before carrying out air strikes on their sites in Yemen.

American and British warplanes, ships and submarines carried out strikes across Yemen overnight in response to attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis on ships in the Red Sea, expanding the scope of the regional conflict sparked by the Israeli war in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement, “These specific strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not turn a blind eye to attacks on our personnel or allow hostile parties to jeopardize freedom of navigation.”

The sources stated that the Houthis were informed of the strikes, an apparent indication of the United States’ intention to reduce the damage and not mobilize a reaction that would exacerbate the escalation in the Red Sea.

The Houthis took precautionary measures

In the same context, the Wall Street Journal, citing an American defense official and a source close to the Houthis, reported that the Houthi militias had already transferred some important weapons and equipment before the strike, while placing ballistic missiles in hideouts in the densely populated city of Sanaa.

Read more: U.S.-Led Coalition Launches Strikes on Multiple Houthi Rebel Targets in Yemen

The newspaper quoted Tanker Trackers, a company that provides shipping consultancy, as saying that an Iranian spy ship left the Red Sea early Thursday, heading to the city of Bandar Abbas on the southern coast of Iran, which security officials previously said was likely to be targeted for its role in helping the Houthis.

Iranian 'spy ship' BEHSHAD (9167289) has departed the southern sector of the Red Sea, and is now underway to Bandar Abbas.

Back in 2021, she had substituted a purportedly-sabotaged vessel called SAVIZ (9167253). Here are some photos from that incident which caused her to leave. pic.twitter.com/KR1i028h1J

— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) January 10, 2024

Impact of strikes

Witnesses in Yemen confirmed to Reuters that explosions had occurred across the country and said that the strikes targeted a military base in the vicinity of Sanaa airport, a military site near Taiz airport, a Houthi naval base in Hodeidah, and military sites in Hajjah Governorate.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who is in hospital due to complications from surgery, said in a statement that the strikes targeted Houthi capabilities, including drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, coastal radars, and aerial reconnaissance.

The British Ministry of Defense said in a statement, “Initial indications indicate that the Houthis’ ability to threaten commercial shipping has taken a significant hit.”

British Armed Forces Minister James Hebbey said that the strikes were in self-defense, but there are no further plans to carry out further strikes at the present time.

73 strikes and five deaths

A Houthi military spokesman said that 73 strikes led to the death of five of the movement’s fighters and the wounding of six.

He added that these attacks will not go “without response and without punishment” and that the movement will continue to target ships heading to Israel.

A Houthi leader confirmed that “raids” had occurred on the capital, Sana’a, and Hodeidah, Saada, and Dhamar as part of what he described as “American-Zionist-British aggression.”

The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have been carrying out attacks on ships at the entrance to the Red Sea since October, one of the busiest global trade routes.

Oil prices rose sharply under the weight of concerns about supply disruptions.

However, the strikes, the first on Yemeni territory since 2016, represent evidence of the difficulties Washington is facing in containing the repercussions of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East since it broke out in October.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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