(12 Jan 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dubai - 12 January 2024
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SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Gambrell, Associated Press Gulf and Iran news director:
"A U.S.-led coalition has launched a series of airstrikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. Now, these strikes come after a series of attacks by the Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea. And what we've heard from the Americans is that warships, fighter jets and even a submarine were involved in launching cruise missiles and other bombs onto targets in Yemen. Those targets included airfields, where the Americans alleged the Houthis launched those bomb-carrying drones that have been harassing shipping for all these weeks. Now, from the Houthi side, we heard from a military spokesman who said five people have been killed and six others wounded in this attack. However, he did not name those hurt, nor did he say just how bad the damage was. The Americans and their allies had been trying to basically knock out the Houthis' military capability from launching more assaults. The Houthis, however, say they're going to continue their attacks on shipping. The Houthis say that these attacks are pressuring Israel. They say that it's trying to get Israel to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, to try to stop the killing of Palestinians who are caught in the crossfire. However, the Houthi attacks are targeting ships that have tenuous, if any, links at all to Israel. So that's really endangered global shipping, and that's why the Americans say they stepped in. Now, moving forward, there's a fear that this could spark a wider confrontation. The Houthis could fire back. The Americans could then launch another round of retaliatory strikes that could draw in others like Lebanon's Hezbollah or even Iran, which so far hasn't been directly involved in the conflict. And meanwhile, all this goes on as Israel's war in Gaza continues. I'm Jon Gambrell for The Associated Press in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates."
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STORYLINE:
The Associated Press explains the details of the U.S.-led strikes that targeted Yemen's Houthi rebels over their ongoing assault on shipping in the Red Sea.

AP Gulf and Iran news director Jon Gambrell, who has followed the Houthi attacks, described the U.S.-led strikes as hitting areas the Americans described as key to the Houthi military.

In response to the strikes, which occurred in Yemen just before Friday 3 a.m. local time, the rebel group has already pledged to retaliate.

Later in the day, the Houthis said the strikes killed five of their forces and wounded six.

The Houthis have sporadically targeted ships in the region over time, but the attacks have increased since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas and spiked after an explosion Oct. 17 at a hospital in Gaza killed and injured many.

That hospital blast marked the beginning of an intense militant campaign against U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria, and on many commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea.

The attacks have damaged commercial ships and forced international shipping companies to divert their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.

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