Tens of thousands of Yemenis gathered in several cities on Friday to hear their leaders condemn U.S. and British strikes on their country.
Supporters of the Houthi movement rally to denounce air strikes launched by the U.S. and Britain on Houthi targets, in Sanaa, Yemen January 12, 2024. Reuters/Khaled Abdullah
Tens of thousands of Yemenis gathered in several cities on Friday to hear their leaders condemn U.S. and British strikes on their country in response to attacks by Houthi militants on Red Sea shipping to protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
The U.S. and Britain carried out dozens of air strikes on Houthi military targets overnight, widening a regional conflict stemming from Israel's war in Gaza.
"Your strikes on Yemen are terrorism," said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, referring to the United States. "The United States is the Devil."
The Iran-aligned Houthis waded into the Israel-Hamas conflict - which has spread around the Middle East since it began on Oct. 7 - by attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles towards Israel itself.
By Clauda Tanios
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants fired on Saudi oil installations in two ports on the Red Sea coast on Saturday, but the United States held back from launching air strikes on Iran itself for the first night in two weeks.
Yemen is edging towards the resumption of a more than decade-old frozen conflict, Yemeni officials, Western diplomats and analysts say, as attacks on Saudi infrastructure and shipping by Iran-aligned Houthis test the patience of the kingdom and the Yemeni government forces it backs.
Iran flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen this month, according to four sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Houthi allies to threaten Red Sea shipping.
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