DUBAI, January 23. /TASS/. The US and British military forces carried out 18 airstrikes on the territory of Yemen in the early hours of Tuesday, a military spokesman for the rebel Houthi movement Ansar Allah, Yahya Saria, has said.

On his social network X page he claimed that the Yemeni capital city Sanaa was hit by a total of 12 airstrikes. Three more were carried out in Hodeidah province, 2 in Taiz province, and 1 in al-Bayda province.

He also vowed that "these attacks will not go unanswered."

On Tuesday night, the US and Britain attacked Houthi military facilities in several Yemeni provinces. According to a joint statement by Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and the US, the allied forces carried out eight strikes on Ansar Allah positions, their main target being the rebels' underground warehouses and facilities related to missile launches and air surveillance.

The strikes were the first joint US-British operation since January 12. The US has independently attacked Yemeni rebel positions several times over the ten days since then. On January 12, US and British forces, using aircraft, ships, and submarines, first hit Ansar Allah targets in a number of Yemeni cities, including Sanaa and Hodeidah, including the Houthis’ missile and drone sites and radar stations.

Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis said they would attack Israeli territory and prevent associated ships from passing through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave was halted. The US military's Central Command estimates that the Houthis have attacked more than 20 civilian vessels since mid-November 2023.