Rishi Sunak has not ruled out further military action in Yemen after Houthi rebels warned of reprisals for overnight airstrikes and the leader of Turkey accused the UK and the US of trying to create a “sea of blood”.
As international tensions escalated as a result of the bombing, the prime minister said Britain had sent a “strong signal” that the militants’ attacks in the Red Sea cannot be carried out with “impunity”.
Downing Street rejected the idea the UK was at war with the Iran-backed group and said the UK’s actions, targetting military facilities used by rebels, had been proportionate and carried out in self-defence.
But pressed on what happens if the air strikes fail to deter attacks, Mr Sunak said ministers would monitor the situation, adding: “It’s clear that this type of behaviour can’t be met without a response. We need to send a strong signal that this breach of international law is wrong. People can’t act like this with impunity and that’s why together with allies we’ve decided to take this action.”
President Biden has also said he will not hesitate to take further action if necessary.
Houthi rebels said the strikes killed at least five people and wounded six, and would “not go unanswered and unpunished”.
As concerns over tensions in the Middle East grew, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the UK and the US are trying to turn the Red Sea into a “sea of blood”.
Huge explosions were seen in Yemeni cities, including Sanaa and Hodeidah, in the early hours of Friday. The US military said 60 strikes were launched at 16 sites linked to the Houthis’ military operations.
The Ministry of Defence said four Royal Air Force jets struck two Houthi facilities involved in their targeting of HMS Diamond and US Navy vessels on Tuesday.
One was a site at Bani and the other the Abbs airfield, used to launch drones and cruise missiles.
The Houthis on Friday said the US-led operation resulted in at least five deaths and six injuries.
A military spokesperson for the group warned the strikes will not go unpunished and will not deter the militia from supporting Hamas by targeting ships associated with Israel.
Sophia Gaston, head of foreign policy at the think tank Policy Exchange, said: “We are moving into a much riskier terrain because the United States and the United Kingdom certainly do not want to be in a situation where we are required to engage beyond a limited targeted strike capacity and certainly not one that may invite the participation of other regional powers.”
She added that the existence of so many proxies for different states, such as the Houthis and Hezbollah for Iran, “necessarily makes this a kind of tinderbox”.
“And I think there are a lot of these players who believe that the stakes at the moment are becoming existential. So I think that always is a recipe for a higher risk of conflict.”
