US-UK coalition strike Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen after spate of ship attacks in Red Sea

The United States and Britain carried out a series of air strikes on military locations belonging to Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen early Friday in response to the militant group's ongoing attacks on vessels traveling through the Red Sea.

Fox News is told there were attacks on more than a dozen Houthi targets by air, surface, and subsurface platforms.

The strikes came shortly after the White House called a lid on President Biden's engagements for the evening as he was not expected to discuss the matter publicly. It also follows news that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had not notified the president of his whereabouts while he was in the ICU at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

In anticipation of the attack, Houthi forces transported some weapons and equipment and fortified others, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a U.S. defense official. Local reports indicated Houthi militants were evacuating the Red Sea city of Hodeidah.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak briefed his cabinet of ministers late Thursday on the imminent military intervention.

British media also reported that other political figures, including the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, as well as the speaker of the House of Commons, had been briefed by the government.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby called on the Houthis earlier Thursday to "stop these attacks," saying that the terrorist group would "bear the consequences for any failure to do so."

The joint strike came after Iranian forces seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman early Thursday morning. The seized vessel was in transit to Turkey when the Iranian naval forces boarded and seized the vessel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat