UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon fighters joined US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces in launching another joint strike against the Yemen-based Houthi militia on 24 February 2024.
Although CENTCOM forces have regularly struck Houthi targets since the militia started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea region in November 2023 , this was the fourth strike that included RAF Typhoons operating out of RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus.
“On February 24, at approximately 11:45 pm (Sanaa Yemen time), US Central Command forces alongside UK armed forces, and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, conducted strikes against 18 Houthi targets in Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen,” CENTCOM reported in a statement on 26 February. “These strikes from this multi-lateral coalition targeted areas used by the Houthis to attack international merchant vessels and naval ships in the region. Illegal Houthi attacks have disrupted humanitarian aid bound for Yemen, harmed Middle Eastern economies, and caused environmental damage.”
“The targets included Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter,” CENTCOM added. “These strikes are intended to degrade Houthi capability and disrupt their continued reckless and unlawful attacks on international commercial and US and UK vessels in the Red Sea, Bab AI-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.”
The UK MoD noted that four RAF Typhoons, supported by a pair of Voyager air refuelling tankers, used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs to strike Houthi targets during the raids.
CENTCOM further noted that the latest strikes were “separate and distinct from the multi-national freedom-of-navigation actions performed under Operation ‘Prosperity Guardian’.”
Around the time of the 24 February raid, CENTCOM noted the following day, the Houthis had launched an anti-ship ballistic missile likely targeting M/V Torm Thor, a US-flagged, owned, and operated chemical/oil product tanker, in the Gulf of Aden, but the missile struck the water and caused no damage or injuries.
Earlier that evening, at about 9 pm (Sanaa time), US CENTCOM said its forces shot down two one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the southern Red Sea in self-defence, while a third UAV crashed from an assessed in-flight failure.
Following the 24 February raids a joint statement from the coalition countering the Houthis (incorporating Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) stated, “These strikes are in response to Houthis’ continued attacks against commercial and naval vessels that have not only endangered international seafarers but the lives of the Yemeni people, including the February 22 missile attack that struck the United Kingdom-owned M/V Islander and injured a crewmember, the February 19 missile attack that nearly struck the US-owned M/V Sea Champion while delivering humanitarian aid to Yemen, the February 19 UAV attack that struck the US-owned M/V Navis Fortuna, and the February 18 missile attack that struck the United Kingdom-owned M/V Rubymar and forced the crew to abandon the ship.
The statement added, “The Houthis’ now more-than 45 attacks on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response. Our coalition of like-minded countries remains committed to protecting freedom of navigation and international commerce and holding the Houthis accountable for their illegal and unjustifiable attacks on commercial shipping and naval vessels.”
