HARROWING images show gun-toting young children in the crowd as thousands took to the streets in Yemen to protest the joint UK and US airstrikes.
Supporters of the Iran-backed rebel group flocked to the streets of Sanaa chanting “America is the Devil” after the overnight blitzes.
ReutersA child was seen among the protesters in Yemen holding a gun[/caption]
ReutersHouthi supporters took to the streets of Yemen after the UK and US airstrikes[/caption]
ReutersProtesters in Sanna were seen burning the Israeli and the American flag[/caption]
GettyThousands of Yemenis were chanting “America is the Devil”[/caption]
EPAYemenis took to the streets after 60 targets were hit in a UK-US operation[/caption]
ReutersDemonstrators burned American and Israeli flags[/caption]
ReutersA person holds a placard with a picture of Yemen’s Houthi movement leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi[/caption]
It comes as…
Houthi rebels vow to get ‘unimaginable’ revenge on US and UK following Thursday’s strikes
Dramatic footage shows the moment bombs rained down on targets
Incredible firepower aimed at Houthi targets included Tomahawk missiles, Reaper drones and 1,200mph jets
An ex-British army chief said the strikes were ‘necessary’ to remove threats to global trade
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dubbed the strikes a ‘proportionate action in self-defence’
President Joe Biden warned ‘he will not hesitate’ to launch further strikes to protect the free flow of commerce
Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands backed the US-UK airstrikes
The Houthi rebel group said five militants were killed and six injured
Both Iran and Hezbollah have condemned the attacks as a ‘clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty’
Protesters marched in Yemen and Tehran burning Israeli and American flags amid escalating fears the region is on the brink of a full-scale war.
More than 100 precision-guided munitions, launched by fighter jets and warships, struck targets in 16 locations across Yemen.
The strikes saw 60 military targets including an airbase, airport and army camp being blitzed and five militants killed.
The attacks against the Houthis were launched in response to the rebel group attacking ships in the Red Sea for months.
But the furious Houthi rebels have vowed to retaliate to a scale “beyond the imagination” with leaders warning the US and the UK “will have to prepare to pay a heavy price”.
Yemenis in Sanna raised their guns in the air as Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said: “We did not attack the shores of America, nor did we move in the American islands, nor did we attack them. Your strikes on our country are terrorism.
“They are terrorists and they are amazing at lying to the people of the world, but the awareness of the Yemeni people is a different awareness.”
It comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the strikes and accused the UK and the US of aspiring “to turn the Red Sea into a bloodbath.”
However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the strikes and called them ” a proportion action of self-defence” as he noted said the Houthis’ breach of international law merited a “strong signal” in response.
He said: “Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week.
“This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade.”
He added: “People can’t act like this with impunity.”
Meanwhile, Iran‘s terror proxies and Houthi allies, Hezbollah and Hamas, have both condemned the strikes and blamed the US and UK for escalating the conflict.
Iran fumed that the strikes on Yemen were a “clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and a violation of international laws.
Hamas said it will hold Britain and the United States “responsible for the repercussions on regional security.”
Houthi’s spokesperson Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said the US and the UK have “made a mistake launching the war in Yemen” adding: “Soon they will realise that the direct aggression against Yemen was the greatest folly in their history“.
While Hussein al-Ezzi, a Houthi official in their Foreign Ministry, said: “Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British.”
The Houthis have carried out a number of attacks in the key Red Sea international trade route since October 7, when Hamas’s attack on Israel sparked the war still raging in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In response, the UK and US struck back obliterating 60 military targets including an airbase, airport and army camp using Tomahawk missiles, Paveway bombs, 1,200mph fighter jets, Reaper drones and destroyers as well as four RAF planes.
The strikes hit targets in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Sadah, Hodeidah, Taiz, and Dhamar.
Britain’s defence ministry released footage of Royal Air Force jets returning to their Cyprus base after the mission, and US Centcom video showed warplanes apparently taking off from a sea-based carrier.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes “targeted sites associated with the Huthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, ballistic and cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities”.
ReutersThousands of Houthi supporters gathered at Sanna to protest after the strikes[/caption]
EPAProtesters marched to the streets after the airstrikes that left five militants dead[/caption]
ReutersHouthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi branded the strikes as “terrorism”[/caption]
Footage shows the moment of a precision strike in Yemen
Four RAF planes were launched in the attack
