DIGIVESTASI - US and UK forces officially launched military operations in the Middle East on Friday, January 12, 2024, after dozens of bombings in a number of Yemeni regions. The military coalition between the United States and Britain launched 23 strikes in Al Hudaya (Hodeidah). Saada and Sana Elia`a. The US Department of Defense confirmed strikes targeting facilities belonging to the Yemen-based Houthi militia (Ansar Allah). 

There were four strikes on Sana'a International Airport, eight strikes on Al Hudaya International Airport, and three strikes on Saada military camps. 

Later, American and British forces also bombed the 22nd Mechanized Brigade camp in al-Jand Taiz and the airport in al-Khoban. The US and British military actions are in accordance with UN resolutions to stop attacks in the Red Sea region. 

Houthi militias are known to attack commercial vessels, including US warships, sailing through the Red Sea. 

The attack was carried out as a form of solidarity with the Houthi militia against the Palestinian military invasion of Gaza which took place on October 7, 2023.

US President Joe Biden admitted that dozens of Tomahawk missile strikes in Yemen were Biden's direct order. Biden has pledged to end the Houthi threat in the Red Sea. "Today, at my direction, U.S. forces, working with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, successfully launched strikes against a number of targets in Yemen," Biden said. 

"[The targets in Yemen] are being used by Houthi rebels to threaten freedom of navigation on one of the world's most important waterways." 

Biden also acknowledged that his military action was in response to Houthi militias attacking US warships and international cargo ships. 

"These strikes were a direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea," Biden said. "[This attack] is the first time in history that an anti-ship ballistic missile has been used," he continued. 

If war breaks out in Yemen, the risk of World War III increases. Although the Russia-Ukraine war is still not over, the Israeli military is increasingly aggressive in launching its attacks on Gaza.