Crisis deepens as Houthis threaten fierce retaliation

Yemen's Houthis threatened retaliation and tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the country's capital after Thursday's late-night bombing by the US and Britain of dozens of sites in the rebel-held territory.

- Dan Sabbagh

Five were killed and six injured in the overnight offensive that the Houthis said yesterday targeted 73 sites in the capital Sana'a, around the port city of Hodeidah and three other regions. The attacks, which marked a major escalation of the crisis in the Middle East in the wake of the IsraelGaza war, were defended by the US and UK but condemned by leaders in the region for inflaming tensions in an already volatile climate.

A vast crowd of people, waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags, and chanting "Death to America, death to Israel", gathered in the capital's central square, to protest against the western bombing. Anti-western protests took place in at least two other major cities in Houthi-controlled areas of the country.

Yahya Sare'e, a spokesperson for the Houthi military, accused "the American-British enemy" of launching brutal aggression "as part of its support for the continuation of Israeli crime in Gaza". The American intervention "will not go unanswered and unpunished," he said.

Last night reports emerged from the UK Maritime Trade Operations of a missile being fired at an unnamed vessel 90 nautical miles south east of Aden in Yemen. It landed 400-500m short of the ship and no damage was reported an incident that is unlikely in itself to prompt further military activity.