WASHINGTON — US warplanes staged multiple strikes Saturday night on Iran-backed Huthi advanced weapons storage facilities in Yemen, the Pentagon said.

 

The facilities contained various weapons used to target military and civilian vessels navigating international waters throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to information provided to AFP by the Pentagon.

 

The Huthi-run Al Masirah television network reported three American and British raids that targeted the capital Sanaa's southern Al Sabeen district.

 

"Eyewitnesses said they heard intense flying, along with explosions in different parts of the capital Sanaa," Al Masirah said.

 

The United States and Britain have repeatedly struck Huthi targets in Yemen since January in response to attacks by the rebels on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

 

The rebels say the strikes, which have disrupted maritime traffic in a globally important waterway, target vessels linked to Israel and are intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.

 

The attacks have seriously disrupted the Red Sea route which carries 12 percent of global trade.

 

In more than 100 Huthi attacks over nearly a year, four sailors have been killed and two ships have sunk, while one vessel and its crew remain detained since being hijacked last November.

 

Saturday's strikes come three days after the Huthi's leader Abdul Malik Al Huthi criticised US president-elect Donald Trump for supporting Israel.

 

Huthi said that normalisation deals between Arab countries and Israel brokered by Trump had failed to bring an end the Middle East conflict and that he would fail again in his second term.