Yemen's Houthi group has ordered all U.S. and British staff of the United Nations and its agencies to leave the country within a month, a U.N. official told AFP. In a letter dated January 20 and shared on social media, the authorities in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa told the U.N. resident coordinator that employees with British and U.S. nationality had one month to "prepare to leave the country." "They must be ready to leave as soon as the deadline expires," the document said. A UN official confirmed to AFP that they had received the memo. Since January 12, the U.S. and U.K. began striking Houthi sites in several Yemeni provinces. The strikes came in response to the Houthi attacks on shipping lines in the Red Sea.
Rishi Sunak has said the U.K. "will not hesitate" to launch further airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen after multiple sites used by the Iranian-backed military group were bombed on Sunday.The prime minister said a joint bombing campaign with the U.S. was intended to warn Houthis that attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea is "unacceptable". The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said four Royal Air Force Typhoons and a pair of Voyager tankers were involved in the latest military strike, which saw multiple targets hit at two military sites near the Sanaa airfield in Yemen. The PM, providing an update to M.P.s on the Red Sea situation, said: "We are not seeking a confrontation. We urge the Houthis and those who enable them to stop these illegal and unacceptable attacks. He added, "But, if necessary, the United Kingdom will not hesitate to respond again in self-defence."
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Iran has warned the U.S. that its attacks with the U.K. against Yemen is a strategic mistake. "We sent a serious message and warning to the Americans," Amirabdollahian said. He added, "The action that the United States and the United Kingdom took jointly and attacked areas in Yemen is a threat to peace and security in the region and is an intensification of the scope of war," he added. The Houthi group has launched attacks on Israeli-linked ships since November of last year in support of Palestinians in Gaza that Israel has bombed for over three months.
Yemen's Houthis say they will carry on with their attack on shipping in the Red Sea despite the intensification of U.S. airstrikes on the Iran-backed group. "The American-British aggression will only increase the Yemeni people's determination to carry out their moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards the oppressed in Gaza," Mohammed Albukhaiti, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, said Monday. U.S. and British forces carried out a fresh round of strikes late on Monday, hitting several Houthi sites in multiple provinces. The U.S. and U.K. strikes began on January 12 to degrade the Houthi military capabilities and stop their attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
