Experts say the US, UK and other Western allies are likely to target coastal radars and launch sites.

Britain and the US are poised to strike Houthi military targets in Yemen as their leader vows to respond to any attack with more attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

Preparatory measures intensified on Thursday in response to an attack involving 21 missiles and drones targeting US and British warships, The Guardian reported, citing defense sources. It is known that it happened on the evening of Tuesday, January 9, but other details have not been disclosed.

Asked about potential US strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, White House spokesman John Kirby said: “I’m not going to telegraph our strikes one way or the other here. We will do what we have to do to counter these threats that the Houthis continue to throw at commercial shipping in the Red Sea, and defeat them.”

At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that after the Houthi attack, “there will be consequences,” and British Defense Minister Grant Shapps advised journalists to “watch this area.”

In response, the leader of the Iranian-backed group that controls northern and western Yemen, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said that if struck, the Houthis would fight back.

“Any American attack will not go unanswered. The response will be greater than an attack carried out using 20 drones and a few missiles. We are more aggressively targeting ships associated with Israel, and we will not back down from that,” he said.

On the evening of Thursday, January 11, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet met amid expectations of British participation in the inevitable military strikes against the Houthis. He is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons on Friday, January 12.

“Experts say the US, UK and other Western allies are likely to target coastal radars and launch sites as they try to stop a three-month spate of Houthi missile and drone attacks on the Middle Eastern waterway.”

Updated: Sky News writes that the strikes will take place this night. Measures can be taken within a few hours.

At the same time, Times journalist Stephen Swinford reports that US President Joe Biden is expected to make a statement regarding possible military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

Updated: The US and Britain are carrying out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, US officials have confirmed. There are more than a dozen targets, ranging from training centers to drone storage facilities, writes Voice of America journalist Carla Babb. The Internet writes about explosions in different cities of Yemen.

Updated 01:54: US forces have struck numerous Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, a US official told CNN. Strikes are carried out from fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles.

“The strikes are a sign of growing international alarm about the threat to one of the world’s most important waterways. For weeks, the US has tried to avoid direct strikes on Yemen because of the risk of escalation in a region already simmering with tensions but continued Houthi attacks on international shipping forced the coalition to act,” the publication writes.

Updated 02:14: A US official told Al Jazeera that strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen have stopped

However, the United States reserves the right to respond if “threats” in the region are repeated, citing Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Updated 02:33: US and British forces have struck more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen, a US official told CNN. He noted that the strikes targeted facilities such as radar systems, drone storage and launch sites, ballistic missile storage and launch sites, and cruise missile storage and launch sites.

The attacks were carried out by the United States and Britain, another American official said. Many other countries have supported the effort, another source said.

Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea

Recently, the UK and the US reported that they had repelled a Houthi attack on a ship. UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said the DIAMOND, along with US warships, had “successfully repelled the largest attack to date by the Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea” using Sea Viper missiles and firearms.

US Central Command noted that the attack occurred on the evening of January 9, Yemen time. The Houthis fired missiles as well as 18 drones into the Red Sea, where dozens of merchant ships were passing through.