British forces and U.S. have carried out at least six airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah International Airport and four strikes on Kamaran Island near the port of Salif off the Red Sea, according to the media reports.
Since airstrikes on Houthi targets started in early February, the strikes on Kamaran shows the first time U.S.-led coalition forces have targeted the island.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government believes Houthi fighters in the past have used Kamaran Island and Port Salif as a site to launch their Red Sea attacks and hide stockpiles of missiles and drones in its salt mines, said the two military sources within the government.
The 10-kilometers of water that stretch from the port of Salif to Kamaran Island are also part of the route that ships must transit through to reach their next port of call.
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Despite reprisals from the U.S.British coalition and other navies, the Houthis have in recent months escalated their campaign of attacks on commercial vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
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