The United States has struck a new blow against Houthi forces in Yemen after President Joe Biden’s administration pledged to protect shipping in the Red Sea, Reuters reported.

The latest strike, which the US said targeted a radar installation, came a day after dozens of US and British strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi group.

The destroyer Carney used Tomahawk missiles in the attack early Saturday morning to “debilitate the Houthis’ ability to attack naval vessels, including merchant vessels.” US Central Command in a statement released on X.

Al-Masira television channel of the Houthi movement reported that the United States and Great Britain launched airstrikes on the capital of Yemen, Sana’a.

Biden: We will respond if the Houthis “continue this outrageous behavior”

U.S. and British warplanes, ships and submarines fired missiles overnight Thursday at targets in Yemen controlled by a group that has presented its naval campaign as supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amid growing concerns about a widening regional conflict.

Although Houthi leaders have vowed to retaliate, Biden warned on Friday that he could order more strikes if they do not end their attacks on commercial and military vessels in one of the world’s most economically important waterways.

“We will certainly respond if the Houthis continue this outrageous behavior,” Biden said Friday during a stop in Pennsylvania.

What the Americans and the British hit

Witnesses confirmed explosions early Friday at military bases near airports in the capital Sanaa and in Yemen’s third city, Taiz, at a naval base in Yemen’s main Red Sea port of Hodeidah, and at military targets in the coastal governorate of Hajj.

White House Press Secretary John Kirby said the initial strikes targeted the Houthis’ ability to store, launch and guide missiles or drones the group has used in recent months to attack and threaten shipping in the Red Sea.

The Pentagon said that the US-British attack reduced the ability of the Houthis to carry out new attacks. The US military said 60 targets in 28 locations were hit.

The Houthi group fired an anti-ship missile in response

Houthi rebels launched an anti-ship missile “in response” to US and UK strikes on rebel positions in Yemen, a US general said on Friday

“We know they fired at least one missile in response,” General Douglas Sims of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters, adding that the missile did not hit any ships. A US official said he expected “attempts to retaliate” from Yemeni rebels, who have adopted “pretty brutal rhetoric”.

Britain’s Merchant Marine Operations Intelligence Center said it had received reports of a missile falling into the sea about 500 meters from the ship, about 90 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni port of Aden.

Maritime security company Ambrey identified the vessel as a Panamanian-flagged Russian oil tanker.

Mass protests in Yemen

The Houthis, who control Sana’a and much of western and northern Yemen, said five militants had been killed but vowed to continue attacks on regional shipping.

Footage recorded by a drone of the Houthi Al-Masirah TV channel showed hundreds of thousands of people in Sanaa chanting slogans against Israel and the United States.

“Your strikes on Yemen are terrorism. The United States is the devil,” said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council.

Reporters asked Biden, whose administration removed the Houthis from the State Department’s list of “foreign terrorist organizations” in 2021, whether he felt the term “terrorist” used to describe the movement now. “I guess I am,” he replied.