DFA 'closely monitoring' Yemen situation after UK and US airstrikes

Sea Viper missiles are fired in the Red Sea. U.S. and British militaries are bombing more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship-launched Tomahawk missiles. Picture: UK Ministry of Defence via AP)

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is "closely monitoring" the situation in Yemen for Irish citizens in the wake of airstrikes in the country.

On Tuesday night, members attached to the Houthi rebel group attacked US and UK warships with missiles and drones.

In response, US-led airstrikes on Yemen killed at least five people and wounded six others, a military spokesman from the Houthi group claimed on Friday.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree made the announcement warning that the strikes will not go "unpunished".

“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people and it will not go unanswered and unpunished,” he said.

In response to a query from the Irish Examiner, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was closely monitoring the situation.

The advice for Irish citizens in Yemen is yet to change.

They said: "The Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the situation in Yemen together with our EU and other international partners.

The Department's travel advice is that citizens ‘Do Not Travel’ to Yemen. 

"Irish citizens in Yemen can register their presence on the Department’s Citizens’ Registration platform. Any citizen requiring consular assistance can contact the Irish Embassy in Riyadh."