The Iran-aligned Yemeni rebel group waging an ongoing campaign of attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea over Israel’s war in Gaza has told Newsweek that it would respond forcefully to any U.S. bombing of Yemen.
“Any strike against us will be responded to, absolutely, without the slightest doubt, with all force and determination, and the region will be on the verge of escalation, the end of which no one knows,” Ansar Allah Deputy Information Secretary Nasreddin Amer told Newsweek on Thursday as reports emerged of up to a dozen strikes being conducted by the United States and the United Kingdom in Yemen.
“Any strike against us has no justification,” Amer added, “as it is only support for Israel to continue killing the oppressed Palestinian people.”
Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Wednesday that “there will be consequences” in response to the largest missile and drone attack to date conducted by Ansar Allah, widely known as the Houthis, against merchant vessels in the Red Sea on Tuesday.
U.S. and U.K. warships responded to the attack, firing down a number of projectiles in line with a mission established last month alongside 10 other coalition partners.
White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby repeated Blinken’s warning later on Wednesday, asserting that “we’re going to do what we have to do to counter and defeat these threats that the Houthis keep throwing up on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.”
This is a developing news story and will be updated with further information as it becomes available.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.