GRAPHIC - US, UK carry out strikes against Houthis inside Yemen

GRAPHICS - The US and UK carried out strikes on multiple targets inside Yemen late Thursday "in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels," US President Joe Biden said. Biden said the Houthi attacks that prompted the allied strikes "have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners and our partners, jeopardized trade and threatened freedom of navigation." "These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea – including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history," he said in a statement. "The response of the international community to these reckless attacks has been united and resolute." The attack comes in response to ongoing drone and missile strikes by the Yemeni group, which is backed by Iran, on international shipping lanes in the Red Sea that began in November in response to Israel's war on Gaza. The Red Sea is a critical waterway for international commerce, particularly for oil and fuel shipments, connecting the Suez Canal in Egypt with the Gulf of Aden via the Bab al- Mandab Strait. The Suez Canal allows ships coming to and from Europe to transit to Asia without having to take the much longer and costlier route around the southern tip of Africa. The Houthis have carried out 27 attacks in the Red Sea since Nov. 19, the US military said earlier Thursday. (Footage by Ferhan Kanca /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)