Missile event in Hodeidah area, Yemen on Fri 12th January 2024

The US and UK have carried out air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen with the aim of deterring attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea.

The strikes were also backed by a number of the US and UK's allies.

Missiles were launched overnight into Friday, hitting dozens of sites - with some casualties reported.

The Houthis say they are not deterred by the attacks, but the US suggests the strikes have damaged the rebel group's military capability.

But the group has survived much worse - including years of being targeted by the Saudi Air Force.

This is what we know about the US-UK strikes so far.

The US says it "executed deliberate strikes on over 60 targets at 16 Iranian-backed Houthi militant locations".

The Pentagon described its targets as radar systems, drone storage and launch sites, missile storage and launch facilities and Houthi command and control nodes.

Strikes were reported in the Yemen capital Sanaa - which is controlled by the rebels - as well as the Houthi Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Dhamar and the group's north-western stronghold of Saada.

According to the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD), the British strikes were in Bani in the north-west - which the MoD said was a drone operational site - and Abbs airfield, which intelligence said was a launching site for missiles and drones.

There were 72 strikes in all, according to the Houthis' military spokesman.

The Houthi spokesman also said five of its members had been killed and six others injured.

The Pentagon said the strikes were on military, not civilian targets using "precision weapons".

US President Joe Biden has said he won't hesitate to take further military action if necessary. But the US has also made clear that it does not want to see a widening conflict in the Middle East.

That suggests that any future US-led military action, if necessary, would again be limited.

Air strikes and long range cruise missiles are the least risky and costly for Mr Biden in an election year. Remember the US has been also using limited airstrikes to target other Iranian backed groups in Iraq and Syria in recent months.

But at best it's a deterrent. It will not eliminate the threat.

The strikes last night might also have degraded and destroyed some of the Houthi's ability to launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

But in public, at least, they remain defiant. They still have the capacity to launch further attacks.

The only real option left for the US and UK is then doing more of the same - targeting from a distance. The US has bitter recent experience of more direct military action in the region - such as putting boots on the ground.