Houthi attacks in Yemen are self-defense – Rishi Sunak

Attacks on Houthi rebel places in Yemen are “important and appropriate” to keep the global shipping safe in the Red Sea, Rishi Sunak has said.

The UK and US bombed military sites during the night.

Mr Sunak said that the UK took action against a group that is supported by Iran and poses a threat to UK ships. He said this action was taken to protect themselves.

In return, Houthi leaders have said that the UK and US will face severe consequences.

The US and its allies bombed the Houthi group for the first time because they have been attacking ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis are in charge of a lot of Yemen and have said that they are helping Hamas by attacking ships going to Israel.

The US Air Force hit over 60 targets at 16 places in Yemen that were being used by Houthi rebels.

On Friday morning, Mr. Sunak said that the Houthi rebels are causing problems for UK and international ships and disrupting trade routes.

The prime minister said that, even though the international community has warned them many times, the Houthis keep attacking ships in the Red Sea, including those from the UK and US.

“This is not acceptable. ” The UK will always support the right for ships to travel wherever they want and for trade to happen freely.

He said the UK took some action to defend itself with help from the United States, Netherlands, Canada, and Bahrain.

MrSunak said the action was done to weaken the Houthi military and to protect ships around the world.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Royal Air Force typhoons did two very accurate attacks on Houthi sites. One was an airfield used to launch drones and missiles over the Red Sea and the other site was used to launch attack drones.

“The MoD is still looking at the results of the strikes, but it looks like the Houthis may not be able to attack merchant ships as easily anymore. ”

‘Not a lot of’. needed

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said that there are no more air strikes planned for now.

“We believed that the small and necessary attacks last night were important to stop the Houthis from being able to attack our warships in the Red Sea,” he said on BBC Breakfast.

MrHeappey said it was just self-defence and that the government’s legal position was strong.

The Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, supports the strikes after being briefed by the government on Thursday night.

“He said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast show that the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea need to be stopped. They are attacking commercial ships and important trade routes, and putting civilian lives in danger. We support taking action against them. ”

Retired leader of the British Army Lord Dannatt said on the BBC that the UK and US, who are permanent members of the UN Security Council, have a duty to protect global trade.

We should hope that this is a careful and smart plan that will quickly make it safe for ships to use the Red Sea instead of the expensive route around the Cape of Good Hope.

Lord Ricketts said that attacking the Houthi sites was going to happen because the rebel group didn’t listen to warnings and attacked US and UK naval ships.

“They just couldn’t let this go on,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today show. “I believe the US-led group made their efforts big to send a strong message, but also made it clear that it’s only aimed at stopping attacks on ships, not starting a war with the Houthis. ”

In response to the attacks, a Houthi leader warned that the US and UK will soon understand that the strikes on Yemen were a big mistake.

The group says they will keep on attacking ships in the Red Sea that are going to Israel or connected to Israel.

“We say there is no reason for attacking Yemen because they were not a threat to ships in the Red and Arabian Seas,” said spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam.

“The attacks will keep happening on Israeli ships or ones going to the ports of occupied Palestine.