According to a source within the American military, the attacks were directed against weapon depots belonging to the Shia Islamist Huthi movement.
The Iran-backed movement, which controls a large part of Yemen, has during the past year's war in Gaza directed attacks against Israel and other targets linked to Israel, such as ships that have passed through the internationally important trade route that runs through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea off the Yemeni coast.
Huthi-controlled news sources report that three attacks were carried out by American and British aircraft, targeting an area in the capital Sanaa. A witness cited by these controlled media describes intense flights over the city and explosions that were heard in different parts of the city.
The Huthi movement has carried out more than 100 attacks during the past year. Four sailors have been killed, two ships have been sunk, and one ship has been hijacked along with its crew. The Shia movement describes these as revenge attacks on behalf of the population of Gaza.
After the presidential election in the USA earlier in the week, the movement and the leader of the Huthi clan, Abdul Malik al-Huthi, came out and criticized the election winner Donald Trump for the support he has so far given to Israel. He described Trump's previous attempts to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab countries as completely failed.
