Strike targeted buildings used to make drones, officials say, in British military’s first involvement since Trump took office
The British military launched airstrikes with the US, targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said on Wednesday, in its first involvement with America’s new intense campaign targeting the Iranian-backed group.
The UK offered a detailed explanation of its reason to launch the strike, in a departure from the US, which has offered few details about the more than 800 strikes it has conducted since beginning its campaign on 15 March.
“This action was taken in response to a persistent threat from the Houthis to freedom of navigation,” said John Healey, the UK’s defence secretary. “A 55% drop in shipping through the Red Sea has already cost billions, fuelling regional instability and risking economic security for families in the UK.”
The Houthis reported several strikes around Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, which the group has held since 2014. Other strikes hit around Saada.
The campaign, called Operation Rough Rider, has been targeting the rebels as the Trump administration negotiates with their main benefactor, Iran, over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
The UK’s defence ministry described the site attacked as “a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some 15 miles (25km) south of Sanaa.”
Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s took part in the raid, dropping Paveway IV guided bombs, the ministry added. “The strike was conducted after dark, when the likelihood of any civilians being in the area was reduced yet further,” the ministry said.
The British offered no information on the damage done in the strike, nor whether it believed anyone had been killed. The US military’s Central Command did not acknowledge the strike.
The British have taken part in airstrikes alongside the US since the Biden administration began its campaign of strikes targeting the Houthis back in January 2024. However, this new strike is the first to see the British involved in the campaign under Trump.
The joint UK-US strike follows an alleged a US airstrike on Monday that hit a prison holding African migrants, killing at least 68 people and wounding 47 others. The US military said it was investigating.
On 18 April, an American strike on the Ras Isa fuel port killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others in the deadliest known attack of the American campaign. The US is conducting strikes on Yemen from its two aircraft carriers in the region – the USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea and the USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel. The strikes separately have drawn controversy in America over defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the unclassified Signal messaging app to post sensitive details about the attacks.
John Healey, the UK’s defense secretary, said the strikes aimed to prevent further Houthi attacks, adding that a 55% drop in shipping through the Red Sea had caused regional instability and damaged the UK’s economy.
Since Trump began his campaign – known as “Operation Rough Rider” – on March 15, US airstrikes have pounded Houthi targets in Yemen, hitting oil refineries, airports and missile sites. The US military acknowledged carrying out over 800 individual strikes in its monthlong campaign, while analysts estimate dozens of Houthi military officers have been killed.
But so far the US operation has had limited impact in harming the group’s operations, and the militants have successfully shot down many multimillion-dollar American drones, hindering the US’ ability to move into “phase two” of the operation, US officials told CNN last week.
On Monday the Houthis alleged a US airstrike hit a prison holding African migrants, killing dozens. In response, US Central Command said it was “aware of the claims of civilian casualties related to the US strikes in Yemen, and we take those claims very seriously. We are currently conducting our battle-damage assessment and inquiry into those claims.”
