‘TERRORISM PURE AND SIMPLE’ – White House’s Kirby on Houthi attacks on ships

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, said “The United States will release sanctions against people and entities involved in the Houthi weapons procurement network”.

Kirby told reporters the U.S. had conducted a strike against an unmanned aerial vehicle that posed a direct threat to ships last night.

U.S. and British forces have carried out at least six airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah International Airport and four strikes on Kamaran Island near the port of Salif off the Red Sea, Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, said on Monday.

The strikes on Kamaran mark the first time U.S.-led coalition forces have targeted the island since airstrikes on Houthi targets began in early February.

They follow the Iran-backed Houthis’ first successful armed maritime drone strike and other missile assaults that damaged the Tutor and Verbena cargo ships last week. Both of the vessels are abandoned and adrift – with Tutor at risk of sinking, military and security experts said.

The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

On Monday, Kirby said the Houthis “have not provided so much as a slice of bread to the Palestinians.”