April 30 (UPI) — British warplanes have attacked Houthi targets in Yemen, joining ally the United States in its airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the joint operation occurred Tuesday, targeting a cluster of buildings in Yemen identified as having been used by the Houthis to manufacture drones like those the rebels have been using to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The targets were located about 15 miles south of the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa.
Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s were used in the strike, along with air refueling support from Voyager tankers. Paveway IV precision-guided bombs were dropped on the buildings, the ministry said, adding that only after “very careful planning had been completed to allow the targets to be prosecuted with minimal risk to civilian or non-military infrastructure.”
“As a further precaution, the strike was conducted after dark, when the likelihood of any civilians being in the area was reduced yet further,” it said. “All our aircraft subsequently returned safely.”
The United States has yet to comment on the operation, but its military has been conducting near-daily attacks against the Houthis since mid-March, when President Donald Trump ordered an expanded campaign against the rebels.
The Trump administration has been seeking — through military strikes and sanctions — to dismantle a military blockade the Houthis erected in mid-November 2023, a month after Israel launched a full-scale war against Hamas, another Iran-proxy militia, in Gaza.
The Houthis have attacked hundreds of ships transiting the important trade route, including U.S. military vessels, claiming they are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, tens of thousands of whom have been killed in Israel’s war.
Britain said its Tuesday attack in Yemen aligned with long-standing government policy put in place in response to the Houthis’ blockade.
London and Washington conducted multiple joint attacks in Yemen during the early months of the blockade.
Together with Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, they launched Operation Prosperity Guardian in December 2023 in response to the Houthi maritime shipping attacks.