The UK has escalated its military involvement in Yemen, launching airstrikes against Houthi rebel positions in coordination with the United States. This move greatly escalates U.S. efforts to fight the Iran-backed organization. This militia has held the country’s capital, Sana’a, since 2014. Reports indicate that these strikes come amid a series of Houthi attacks targeting shipping routes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which the group claims to support Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza.
Since mid-March 2024, US military’s Central Command has reported that over 800 targets associated with the Houthis have been struck, resulting in the deaths of “hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders.” This increase in military activity is intended to reduce Houthis’ rampant and escalating threats to international shipping. This month, the group has targeted maritime traffic, including merchant vessels and, more recently, Western military ships. Consequently, trade transiting through these essential arteries has been cut in half.
The Houthis have conducted numerous successful retaliatory attacks in and near Sana’a and in the northwestern province of Saada. On April 18, they struck the port of Ras Isa directly, killing around 80 civilians. The coalition reported that a Saudi-led air strike on a detention center for African migrants in Saada killed at least 68 people.
British fighter jets accompanied their US counterparts on the overnight airstrikes, destroying a number of Houthi installations. In response, the UK’s Ministry of Defence boasted of their detailed advance planning. They made damn sure those targets were worth the risk to civilians and non-combatant infrastructure.
Nonetheless, these reassurances in no way mitigate punishment for past civilian deaths. Human rights advocate Annie Shiel described those precautions as grossly inadequate during the US strikes on civilian infrastructure. She emphasized that these strikes still raise fundamental questions about the standards set to prevent civilian casualties, required under international law and US policy.
For these reasons, the Houthis’ attacks have been labeled, under a new inappropriately vague heading, as an ongoing menace to maritime security. British Defence Secretary John Healey noted the growing risks posed by the rebels: “a persistent threat from the Houthis to freedom of navigation.” Recent events bring to bear the scope of this grave peril. A $60 million US Navy F-18 Super Hornet jet was subsequently lost at sea after being towed back to the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier after successfully dodging Houthi gunfire.
The current offensive represents a unified front by the UK and US, with Britain participating in five rounds of airstrikes against the Houthis between January and May 2024. Both countries have carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets. This continuing conflict has exposed deeply troubling truths related to humanitarian impacts and the stability of the region.