Houthis Vow Revenge after U.S. and U.K. Airstrikes in Response to Red Sea Attacks Transcript

Welcome to the NewsHour. Houthi militants in Yemen fired a missile at a ship today and promised further retaliation after last night’s US and British airstrikes against Houthi targets.

US officials say The airstrikes are a bid to stop the Houthi disruption of shipping through the Red Sea and not intended to widen the war in Gaza. As Nick Schifrin reports, the US warned it will strike again if the Houthi campaign continues.

For as far as the eye could see, pro-Houthi demonstrators today filled the streets of the capital’s Sanaa, waving weapons, demanding death to their enemies. A promise repeated by Houthi leader, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi.

Did you not hear yesterday Yemeni people the airstrikes? Are they not the same raids we have seen? They did not bring anything new, but we are the ones who will bring something new.

Last night from jets, ships, and a submarine, the US says, a first round of strikes targeted 16 locations, and then 30 to 60 minutes later, an additional 12 locations with more than 150 munitions. A Western official told PBS NewsHour that was on the higher end of military options. The US military says it hit more than 60 individual targets in mostly unpopulated areas, targeting air defense, drones, and missiles that the Houthis have used in recent attacks, including the Tuesday attack that precipitated the military strikes, more than two dozen Houthi drones and missiles aimed at US warships.

If they continue to act and behave as they do, we will respond.

Since November, Houthis have seized and targeted 27 commercial ships in the Red Sea. 30% of global container traffic and more than a million barrels of crude oil every day sail through the Suez Canal via the Red Sea. Now many of those ships are rerouting around Africa, driving up consumer prices and causing supply chain delays.

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This morning, crude oil futures jumped 4% to more than $80 a barrel. The international reaction to the military strike was mixed. Russia called an emergency security council meeting and called the strikes irresponsible. Omar denounced the strikes, warning they could escalate conflict in the region. Saudi Arabia said in a statement, it was following the events with great concern and called for self-restraint.

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For nearly 10 years, Houthi rebels backed by Iran, have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition. Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014 from the country’s internationally recognized government. The subsequent brutal civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, but for the last 20 months there’s been a shaky ceasefire. Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government now agree on a road map to peace, and some regional and US officials worry that military strikes could reverse political progress. But that could depend on what happens next and the extent of the expected Houthi military response. For the PBS NewsHour, I’m Nick Schifrin.