‘Threats to Shipping Must Cease,’ British Prime Minister Says

Alongside the United States with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, we ordered the R.A.F to strike two Houthi military facilities in Yemen. I want to be clear that these were limited strikes. They were carefully targeted at launch sites for drones and ballistic missiles to degrade the Houthis capacity to make further attacks on international shipping. Our initial assessment is that all 13 planned targets were destroyed. At the drone and cruise missile base in Bani, nine buildings were successfully hit. A further three buildings were hit at Abs Airfield, along with a cruise missile launcher caught in the open. We have seen no evidence thus far of civilian casualties, which we took great care to avoid. The threats to shipping must cease. Illegally detained vessels and crews must be released, and we remain prepared to back our words with actions.