THE US AND UK have carried out strikes on 36 Houthi targets in Yemen across more than a dozen locations associated with weapons storage and missile launchers.

Israel’s violence in Gaza has sparked further conflict elsewhere in the Middle East, including in the Red Sea, where the Iran-backed Houthi militants have been attacking ships.

The US and UK joined up for a coordinated assault on the Houthis for the third time last night. The strikes hit 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen. 

A joint statement said it was done “in response to the Houthis’ continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea”.

The operation received support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes “are intended to further disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia to conduct their reckless and destabilizing attacks”.

He said forces targeted sites linked to the Houthis’ weapon storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars.

“We will not hesitate to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”

On the British side, Royal Air Force Typhoon warplanes struck several targets, including two ground control stations used to operate drones.

A spokesperson for the Houthis, Nasr al-Din Amer, said after the strikes that “either there is peace for us, Palestine and Gaza, or there is no peace and no safety for you in our region”.

He added: “We will meet the escalation with escalation.”

Additionally, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces carried out a strike against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was “prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea” early this morning. It believed it “presented an imminent threat” against vessels in the area.

Additional reporting by AFP and Press Association