US and Britain strike Yemen in reprisal for Houthi attacks on shipping

One of four RAF Typhoon aircraft taking off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to join the US-led coalition conducting air strikes against military targets in Yemen. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have increased by 500% between November and December. Picture: Sgt Lee Goddard/MOD/Crown

US and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen overnight in retaliation against Houthi forces for months of attacks on Red Sea shipping that the Iran-backed fighters cast as a response to the war in Gaza.

Witnesses confirmed explosions at military bases near airports in the capital Sanaa and Yemen's third city Taiz, a naval base at Yemen's main Red Sea port Hodeidah and military sites in the coastal Hajjah governorate.