Yemen’s Houthis warn they will hit back at US if attacked

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have launched missiles and drones at multiple cargo ships in the Red Sea amid the war in Gaza, warn that they will strike back if attacked by US forces.

“If the Americans intend to escalate further, get more involved and commit foolishness by targeting our country… we will target them,” says rebel leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.

“We will make American battleships, American interests and American navigation a target for our missiles and drones,” he says in a speech broadcast on the rebel’s Al-Masirah television.

His comments come after the United States said it was building up a multinational naval task force to protect vessels transiting the Red Sea from Houthi attacks carried out in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has entered the Gulf of Aden, according to a US Navy spokesperson.

The rebels have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant vessels, according to the Pentagon, from the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.