Houthis vow to defend after US strikes in Yemen

Yemen’s Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said that the country would continue to defend itself after several US strikes targeted facilities in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday.

The US military said that it carried out strikes against Houthi targets in Sanaa and coastal locations in Yemen on Monday and Tuesday.

“On Dec. 30 and 31, US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon (ACW) production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV),” the US military’s Central Command said in a post on X.

The attacks began Monday and were carried out by US Navy ships and aircraft that also struck Huthi-controlled coastal regions of Yemen, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

It also said US Navy and Air Force aircraft had destroyed "seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea," using an acronym for unmanned aerial drones.

"There were no injuries or damage to US personnel or equipment in either incident," it said.

One witness in Yemen's Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa reported several strikes in different locations.

Another reported raids on Sanaa on the Defense Ministry and having heard a powerful explosion.

Huthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam called the strikes "an American aggression" and "a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel."

The rebels said earlier Tuesday that they had fired two missiles at Israel, hours after the Israeli military said it had intercepted a projectile launched from the country.

Houthi in Yemen has been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year to try to enforce a naval blockade on Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s year-long war in Gaza.

The Huthis control much of war-torn Yemen and have been firing missiles and drones at Israel, and at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.