Washington, 4 February 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The United States and Britain, with support from other partners, have again attacked positions of the militant Islamist Houthi rebels in Yemen.

A total of 36 targets in 13 locations were targeted, the US Defence Department said in a statement issued in Washington on Saturday evening.

These included weapons depots, missile systems and launchers, air defence systems and radar devices.

This was the third joint US-British operation in recent weeks against the Iran-backed militia.

"Today, the militaries of the United States and the UK, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, conducted additional strikes against military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen," US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in the statement.

"These strikes are intended to further disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia to conduct their reckless and destabilizing attacks against U.S. and international vessels lawfully transiting the Red Sea," Austin added.

They came only a day after US airstrikes against pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria.

The US military said on Friday it had attacked more than 85 targets in Syria and Iraq, in response to a deadly attack by pro-Iranian militias that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted merchant ships on the Red Sea since the Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas began in October.

The militia is acting in solidarity with Hamas and has been targeting freighters with alleged Israeli connections off the Yemeni coast.

Photo: EPA