The United States and Britain launched strikes against sites linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen, the first on the country since the Iran-backed group started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year.

As witnesses in Yemen confirmed explosions throughout the country to Reuters, President Joe Biden cautioned in a statement late on Thursday he would not hesitate to carry out further action if needed.

“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation,” Biden said.

Britain’s ministry of defense said in a statement that “early indications are that the Houthis’ ability to threaten merchant shipping has taken a blow.”

A Houthi official confirmed “raids” in the capital Sanaa along with the cities of Saada and Dhamar as well as in Hodeidah governorate, calling them “American-Zionist-British aggression.”

The ongoing strikes are one of the most dramatic demonstrations to date of the widening of Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East since its eruption in October.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were being carried out by aircraft, ship and submarine. The official said more than a dozen locations were targeted and the strikes were intended to weaken the Houthi’s military capabilities and were not just symbolic.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, defied a U.N. and other international calls to halt their missile and drone attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and warnings from the United States of consequences if they failed to do so.

The Houthis say their attacks are in support of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza. Israel has launched a military assault that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which killed 1,200 people.

The Houthi have attacked 27 ships to date, disrupting international commerce on the key route between Europe and Asia that accounts for about 15% of the world’s shipping traffic.

Witnesses told Reuters that the raids on Thursday targeted a military base adjacent to Sanaa airport, a military site near Taiz airport, a Houthi naval base in Hodeidah and military sites in Hajjah governorate.

Earlier on Thursday, the Houthis’ leader said any U.S. attack on the group would not go without a response.

The Houthis, who seized much of Yemen in a civil war, have vowed to attack ships linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports. However, many of the targeted ships have had no links to Israel.

27 Attacks by Houthis on ships

The U.S. military said on Thursday that the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden, the 27th attack by the group since Nov. 19.

The overnight strikes in Yemen came just days after the Houthis largest attack to date on Jan. 9 in the Red Sea, which forced the U.S. and British naval forces to shoot down 21 Houthi drones and missiles fired towards the southern Red Sea. The U.S. military described it as a complex attack.

Biden, in his statement, said the Houthis directly targeted American ships.

In December, more than 20 countries agreed to participate in a U.S.-led coalition, known as Operation Prosperity Guardian, safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea. However, the U.S. and British strikes are taking place outside that defensive coalition.

Biden said Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands supported the operation.

“The response of the international community to these reckless attacks has been united and resolute,” Biden said in a statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday spoke with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller informed on Thursday, adding that the two leaders discussed the recent attacks on merchant ships by the Yemen-backed Houthi groups in the Red Sea.

The two leaders also reaffirmed their maritime cooperation in the region, the State Department spokesperson informed.

“The Secretary and External Affairs Minister discussed the United States and India’s shared concerns over reckless Houthi attacks in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which threaten the free flow of commerce, endanger innocent mariners, and violate international law,” Miller said.

During their telephonic conversation, the US Secretary of State emphasised that the Red Sea is a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade and welcomed increased cooperation with India in defending freedom of navigation in the region.

The US Secretary and EAM also spoke about the Israel-Hamas conflict, efforts to prevent the conflict’s escalation and increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and

Blinken also discussed Russia’s “war of aggression” against Ukraine.

Earlier on Wednesday, the EAM posted from his official X handle, “A good discussion this evening with my friend US @SecBlinken. Our conversation focused on maritime security challenges, especially the Red Sea region. Appreciated his insights on ongoing situation in West Asia, including Gaza. Exchanged perspectives on developments pertaining to the Ukraine conflict. Looking forward to realizing our extensive cooperation agenda for 2024.”

Earlier in December, Blinken said the US has deepened its partnership with India, adding that his country has elevated cooperation with New Delhi, Japan and Australia through the Quad.

“We’ve deepened our partnership with India. We’ve elevated cooperation through the Quad with India, Japan, Australia,” the US State Secretary said at an end-of-year press availability on Wednesday (US local time).

The Quad is a diplomatic network between Australia, India, Japan and the US.

According to a press release issued by the US State Department, Blinken said the US’ partnerships in the Indo-Pacific have never been stronger.

He said the US was “working with the United Kingdom and Australia to produce nuclear-powered submarines. We launched new comprehensive strategic partnerships with Vietnam and Indonesia, a new Defense Cooperation Agreement with the Philippines, new trilateral initiatives with the Philippines and Japan, new embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A handwritten note has been recovered from the belongings of the Bengaluru CEO who allegedly murdered her four-year-old son, police sources said. While police hasn’t reveal the exact content of the note, sources say that the accused, Suchana Seth, had written about her bitter relationship with her estranged husband.

The 39-year-old is accused of murdering her son in a hotel room in Goa, reportedly over a bitter custody battle with her husband. She will undergo a medical examination as well as a psychological evaluation. Police sources said that she has not been cooperating with the investigation and has shown “no remorse” so far.

The note recovered was written on a tissue paper with an eyeliner, police said. It has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination by a handwriting expert.

The note hinted at her strained relationship with her husband Venkat Raman and how she was unhappy with the court order allowing Raman to meet the child. Police sources said that the note suggests the mental state of Ms Seth.

Suchana Seth is the CEO of ‘The Mindful AI Lab’, and according to her LinkedIn profile, she is an AI ethics expert and data scientist with over 12 years of experience in mentoring data science teams, and scaling machine learning solutions at start-ups and industry research labs.

The police have recovered the three items from the service apartment she had stayed at in Goa. She checked into the apartment in Candolim on January 6 and stayed there till January 8. She allegedly killed her son in the apartment and stuffed the body in a bag before taking it to neighbouring Karnataka in a taxi on Monday, police said.

When the apartment staff went to clean the room, they found blood stains on a towel. The staff immediately informed the police and told them that she carried an unusually heavy bag, and her son was not seen with her.

The four-year-old child was smothered to death either with a piece of cloth or a pillow, the post-mortem revealed.