U.S., Britain carry out strikes against Houthis in Yemen- officials

• The United States and the United Kingdom have "successfully conducted strikes" against Houthi targets in Yemen, President Joe Biden said late Thursday.
• While the latest strikes on the Houthis were "significant" in size, the U.S. did not expect them to degrade Houthi capabilities entirely, said a senior administration official.
• The United States and Great Britain were the only two militaries that carried out the latest strikes. A senior administration official declined to comment on why the rest of the coalition members did not take part.

The United States and the United Kingdom have "successfully conducted strikes" against Houthi targets in Yemen, President Joe Biden said late Thursday.

"Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands — successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world's most vital waterways," Biden announced.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia group began their drone and missile attacks on shipping vessels and cargo ships traversing the Red Sea late last year, drawing global condemnation. The militants claim their attacks in the Red Sea are in response to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

According to the U.S. Central Command, the U.S. Air Force struck more than 60 targets across 16 Houthi militant locations in those strikes, launching more than 100 precision-guided munitions.

The strikes — which targeted radar systems, air defense systems, and missile launch sites — began on Thursday at 2.30 a.m. local time in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

The strikes were "in response to continued illegal, dangerous, and