Red Sea crisis
\nUS missile strikes came after a bulk carrier was hit by Houthi drones in the Gulf of Aden
\nYemen
\nThe US military has fired another wave of missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites, marking the fourth time in a week that it has directly targeted the group in Yemen.
\nThe strikes were launched from the Red Sea, hitting more than a dozen sites \u2013 the officials told the AP news agency \u2013 and came after a drone launched from areas controlled by the Houthis hit a US-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
\nThe Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said that the areas targeted were Hodeidah, Taiz, Dhamar, al Bayda and Saada. The media group claimed that UK aircraft were also involved in the strikes but the Guardian was not able to verify those claims.
\nThe US military said that its forces conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired from Yemen, and that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region.
\nSince November, attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on ships in the region have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers. The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
\nWednesday\u2019s attack on Red Sea shipping saw a drone launched by the Houthis smash into the Genco Picardy bulk carrier, causing a fire that was soon extinguished, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organisation. The vessel and its crew were said to be safe and proceeding to their next port of call.
\nThe attack was a clear rebuke to the Biden administration for its announcement earlier on Wednesday that it was reassigning the Houthis to its list of \u201cspecially designated global terrorists\u201d.
\nWashington officials said they would design financial penalties against the Houthis to minimise harm to Yemen\u2019s 32 million people.
\nDespite the sanctions and military strikes \u2013 including a large-scale operation last Friday carried out by US and British forces that hit more than 60 targets across Yemen \u2013 the Houthis are continuing their harassment campaign of ships in the Red Sea.
\nOn Wednesday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the US would continue to take military action to prevent further attacks.
\n\u201cThey are exploiting this situation to conduct attacks against the ships and vessels from more than 50 countries \u2026 around the world. And so we\u2019re going to continue to work with our partners in the region to prevent those attacks or deter those attacks in the future,\u201d Ryder said.
\nThe UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, told Bloomberg: \u201cI think we need to look at all the tools we have in the toolbox \u2026 Obviously, we have been using sanctions against a number of people in Iran and we need to look at how we can step that up if this behaviour continues.\u201d
\nHouthi leaders have said their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea will end as soon as the \u201cIsraeli aggression\u201d in Gaza stops, and warned that they would view any sanctions by Britain or America as a declaration of war.
\nMore shipping companies have said they would not risk using the Red Sea route until the crisis subsided.
\nIn a joint statement on Tuesday evening, 26 Yemeni and international organisations, including Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council, expressed their \u201cdeep concern about the humanitarian impacts of the recent military escalation in Yemen and the Red Sea\u201d.
\nThe group said that humanitarian organisations \u201chave already begun to feel the impact of the security threat in the Red Sea, as disrupting trade leads to higher prices and causes delays in shipments of lifesaving goods\u201d.
\nThe group said it expected that \u201cfurther escalation may force more organisations to stop their operations in areas witnessing hostilities\u201d.
\nMore than 75% of Yemenis depend on aid to live, amid a severe economic crisis caused by the war, the collapse of the currency, and restrictions imposed on imports and trade with countries abroad.
\nThe status of the Houthis as specially designated global terrorists was withdrawn in February 2021 by the Biden administration as it sought to make it easier to get humanitarian aid into Yemen.
\nA US official said the new designation would take effect in 30 days to allow time to carve out robust humanitarian exemptions so the measures targeted the Houthis and not the people of Yemen.
\nThe official said: \u201cThe people of Yemen should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis.\u201d
\nThe US intends that any group or financial organisation, including those outside the US, could face US sanctions or fines if it was proven they were knowingly undertaking business with the Houthis.
\nThe official added that the special terrorist designation may be lifted if the attacks on commercial shipping ended. They insisted that the designation was not intended to scupper the UN-led peace process that requires talks between the Houthis and the UN-recognised coalition government in Aden. But legal analysts suggest inhibitions may be placed on peace talks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Red Sea crisis US missile strikes came after a bulk carrier was hit by Houthi drones in the Gulf of Aden Yemen The US military has fired another wave of missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites, marking the fourth time in a week that it has directly targeted the group in Yemen. The strikes were launched […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-381674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n