Yemen's Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said the country would continue to defend itself after the US carried out several strikes on targets in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday.

The US military said it struck Houthi targets in Sana'a and coastal areas of Yemen on Monday and Tuesday.

“On December 30 and 31, US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapons (ACW) production and storage facilities, which included missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” the US said. In the Armed Forces Central Command: post on X, formerly on Twitter.

The targets were reportedly used in attacks against US warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. US Navy and Air Force aircraft also destroyed a Houthi coastal radar station, seven cruise missiles and a drone over the Red Sea.

An Iran-backed militant group in Yemen has been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea for more than a year in an attempt to impose a naval blockade on Israel, saying it is acting in solidarity with the Palestinians during Israel's year-long war in Gaza.

The Houthi news office said on Tuesday that on May 22, 10 airstrikes hit a facility in Sanaa's northern Tura district, and two more hit a facility in Aradi, which houses the rebel defense ministry in central Sanaa.

Houthi chief negotiator and spokesman Mohamed Abdul-Salam called the strikes “a gross violation of the sovereignty of an independent state.”