Submarines, jets and laser-guided bombs – how precision strikes on the Houthis unfolded

As Rishi Sunak held a cabinet call on Thursday evening to brief ministers about plans to hit Houthi targets in Yemen, RAF jets were already streaking across the sky towards their targets.

Four Typhoon combat planes had taken off in quick succession from Britain’s Akrotiri air base in Cyprus at around 7.30pm, with the roar from their white-hot jets receding into the night.

As they flew south east carrying a payload of 500lb laser-guided Paveway bombs and accompanied by a Voyager refuelling tanker, the Typhoons marked Britain’s contribution to a long-expected barrage against the Houthis.

By the end of the night, American commanders claimed to have hit 60 targets linked to an onslaught of Houthi drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea.

The operation hit 16 separate sites holding what commanders called “command-and-control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air defence radar systems”.

The action came in retaliation for weeks of attacks on commercial shipping which have badly disrupted trade routes and which culminated earlier this week with the heaviest attack yet by the Iran-backed militia.

US president Joe Biden said he ordered action against targets “used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways”.

He said the rebels’ “unprecedented” attacks included “the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history”.

Mr Sunak said a “strong signal” was needed after the Houthis breached international law.

“People can’t act like this with impunity,” he said.

The RAF jets reached their targets at around 11.30pm. One site at Bani, in north-western Yemen, was described by the Ministry of Defence as a facility used to launch reconnaissance and attack drones. Several buildings were hit, the MoD said.

The other UK target was the airfield at Abbs, which the MoD said the Houthis had used to launch both cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea.

Video clips released by the MoD showed unspecified targets being destroyed by heavy blasts.

The four RAF Typhoons made up only a small moving part in a strike operation led by the world’s military colossus, the United States.

The American contribution included Tomahawk low-flying cruise missiles fired from at least one Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the Red Sea.

Each missile can deliver a 1,000lb conventional warhead hundreds of miles inland.

Tomahawks were also fired from at least one submarine, thought to be the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida, which entered the Red Sea in November.

Meanwhile, US Air Force fighters flying from an unspecified base in the Middle East and Super Hornets from the carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower joined the attack.

In all, the US said more than 100 precision-guided munitions of various types were used.

Those under the blitz were woken by the barrage as witnesses confirmed explosions at military bases near airports in the capital Sanaa and Yemen’s third city Taiz.

An airport and naval base at Yemen’s main Red Sea port Hodeidah and military sites in the coastal Hajjah governorate were also struck.

For Yemenis who have endured more than a decade of war, including air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition which fought the Houthis, the onslaught was all too familiar.

At least 150,000 are thought to have died in civil war since protests in 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring, forced Ali Abdallah Saleh, the president, to resign and Houthi rebels seized much of the country in the ensuing turmoil.

Some Yemenis told The Telegraph by telephone or through social media they had spent the raids huddled in fear.

Muneer, a 22-year-old who was in Sana’a during the attacks, said he had tried to comfort his terrified brothers.

He said: “There was a big explosion that made the house shake. I saw a lot of destruction, but this is normal to us. We have seen a lot of attacks before.

“I was with my family when it happened. We watched them together. My little brothers, who are 10, cried a lot.

“All I could do was hug them and tell them it would go away, even though I could not be sure of this.”

Mahmoud, another Sana’a resident, said: “The explosions were tremendous. I woke up to find the whole family gathering at the door of my bedroom. The huge explosions reminded us of the same nightmare when the Saudi coalition started bombing Sana’a in 2015.

Khalil, a resident of Hodeidah, added: “The explosions were really massive. My friend who lives in the residential block near the airport called me a minute after the explosions took place, telling me they were so powerful the roof of the house was shaking and the windows were broken”

Another resident, who only gave his name as Salah, said: “The city is filled with fear and anxiety. Many residents fled the city seeking safe shelters in the south controlled by the government.

“The explosions were really terrifying because it was the first time the city was bombed from the sea.

“We are expecting the situation to go from bad to worse. The prices of the food supplies will shoot, and the value of the local currency is likely to go down.”

Yet amid the fear, there was also defiance.

When the Houthis began attacking and seizing ships in mid-November, the movement said it was acting in support of Hamas and would not back down until Israel stopped fighting in Gaza.

Hussam, a 24-year-old in Sana’a, said the Yemeni people were “prepared to take a beating for the sake of their homeland, pride and honour”.

Nash, a 26-year-old also from the capital added: “I was with my family during the attacks. We all felt so much fear and the children were crying.

“But if it is upon us because of our support for Gaza, we will remain with Gaza. If the war is great, we have the duty of our religion and to our brothers in Gaza.”

After their strikes, the RAF planes reached their base in Cyprus by around 3am after a round trip of nearly eight hours.

Just how successful the strikes were in stopping further Houthi attacks was not immediately clear.

“We’re still doing the assessment of the actual impacts on all these targets,” said John Kirby, the White House spokesman.

“That work is ongoing. So I think we’ll have a better sense of the specifics of the damage done here in the coming hours.”

The Houthi leadership reported five people had been killed and was quick to threaten its retaliation, saying it would continue to hit shipping.

Hussein al-Ezzi, a Houthi official in their foreign ministry, said there had been “a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines and warplanes”.

“America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” he said.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, accused the US and Britain of having “committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression”.

“They were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,” he wrote online.

He added that Houthi “targeting will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine”.

Nato, along with nations including Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, said they supported the strikes. France did not sign a statement backing them.

Meanwhile, Iran called the attack “a breach of international laws” and Turkey accused the US and the UK of “trying to turn the Red Sea into a sea of blood”.

On Friday, hundreds of thousands of people, some carrying Kalashnikov rifles, massed for a demonstration in central Sana’a to condemn America and Israel.

Crowds waving Yemen and Palestinian flags chanted “Death to America, death to Israel”.

Other protests were seen in Hodeida and Ibb.

The country has seen regular demonstrations since the Israel-Hamas war flared in October, but witnesses said Friday’s protest after the strikes was particularly passionate.

“If America and its allies decide to declare open war on us, we’re ready for it and we won’t have any choice but to bring victory or fall as martyrs,” Abdel Azim Ali, one of the protesters, told AFP.

“We’re waiting for the day when we’re fighting a war with America,” said Mohammed Hussein, another demonstrator.

“We’re not scared of the American or British air force. We’ve been bombed for nine years and another attack is nothing new for us,” said Abdallah Hassan, who was also in the crowd.