Houthi rebels vow revenge after US, UK barrage

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels vowed Sunday that a wave of joint U.S.-British retaliatory airstrikes “will not pass without response and punishment” as the Israeli-Hamas war teetered on the brink of a far broader and more deadly regional conflict.

“These attacks will not deter us from our moral, religious and humanitarian stance in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” Houthis spokesman Ameen Hayyan said in a statement.

U.S. and British forces struck 36 rebel targets in Yemen on Saturday, one day after targeting 85 sites linked to other Iran-backed militant groups in Syria and Iraq. The airstrikes Friday were in response to months of attacks on U.S. bases, including a drone strike on a U.S. base in Jordan near the Syrian border that killed three Americans.

The Houthis were targeted in response to scores of strikes on commercial ships in the Red Sea area since November. It was the third time that British and American forces have jointly targeted the Houthis, who say their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in war-battered Gaza, which has been bombarded since the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israeli border communities.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the latest U.S.-British response was “intended to degrade Houthi capabilities used to continue their reckless and unlawful attacks.”

Source » msn.com