Houthi strike troops seen conducting armed drills in Israeli themed terrain complete with Star of David tents in wake of UK and US airstrikes in Yemen

Houthi troops have been pictured conducting drills in terrain resembling Jewish houses following a number of US and coalition airstrikes over the last two days.

Photos shared by the Houthi Media Centre on Saturday showed soldiers armed with Kalashnikov-style assault rifles operating in mock residential areas featuring the Star of David in Yemen.

Aerial footage dated January 11 also showed drone operators practicing while stood on American flags.

And the exercises saw missiles and tanks tested near the northern Yemen-Saudi Arabia border at Al-Baqaa area.

The photos were released after the Houthi leadership promised revenge for strikes conducted by allies in response to rebel attacks on trade vessels in recent weeks.

A joint exercise between Britain, the US and allies in the early hours of Friday morning was followed by subsequent attacks late Friday and this afternoon. 

The Houthi militia threatened a ‘strong and effective response’ after the United States carried out its strike in Yemen on Saturday, further stoking tensions.

Britain and the US led the series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen early on Friday morning in response to attacks against trade vessels in recent weeks that had led to a number of companies suspending operations in the area.

RAF Typhoons were pictured taking off from RAF Akrotiri, a British base on Cyprus, before footage shared on social media purported to show explosions on targeted sites inland in Yemen. Five were said to have died in the attacks, with six injured.

The Houthis called the attacks ‘barbaric’ and said in a statement ‘all US, UK interest have become ‘legitimate targets” without elaborating.

‘The Americans and the British should not believe that they will escape the punishment of our heroic armed forces,’ the Houthi Supreme Political Council said in a statement on their official media. 

Later on Friday Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile at a trade vessel sailing through the Gulf of Aden, south of Yemen. The missile missed its target by some 400-500 metres and the ship was revealed neither to be British nor American-owned.

The attack was followed by a second US strike late on Friday. The Houthi movement’s TV channel Al-Masirah erroneously reported in the early hours of Saturday morning that Britain had been involved in the second round of strikes.

A fresh airstrike then hit the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeida today following two nights of attacks on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

A military source allied with the rebels told AFP ‘the site from which a Houthi rocket was launched on the outskirts of Hodeida was hit’, adding that it was not clear whether the strike came from the sea or the air. 

The strikes have added to concerns about the escalation of the conflict that has spread through the region since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Israel went to war, with Iran‘s allies also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. 

The Houthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Gaza, have carried out a growing number of missile and drone attacks on what they deem Israeli-linked shipping in the key Red Sea international trade route.

‘We have emphasised to everyone that [the Houthi] operations are to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and that we cannot stand idly by in the face of the aggression and siege,’ Houthi chief negotiator and spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Al Jazeera in December.

Around 12 percent of global trade normally passes through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea entrance between southwest Yemen and Djibouti.

But since mid-November the rebel attacks have affected trade flows when supply strains are already putting upward pressure on inflation globally.

The Houthi outfit emerged in the 1990s but gained international attention in 2014 during a rebellion against Yemen’s government, sparking the ongoing civil war.

Yemen’s government subsequently stepped down, leading to a humanitarian crisis. Houthi forces continue to clash with a Saudi-led coalition and allies in the United States and a number of European powers.

The Houthis continue to receive millions in aid from Iran each year, which also provides aid and training to Hamas in Gaza and as much as $700mn a year to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Houthis have been accused of several violations of international law – beyond targeting non-combatant merchant vessels in the Red Sea – including using child soldiers, expected to make up a third of all fighters in Yemen.

Human Rights Watch published a report in 2018 detailing how Houthi soldiers would take hostages, arbitrarily detain people and use torture methods to extort money from relatives.

The UN also reported in 2018 the Houthis were diverting food aid from distribution areas intended for civilians affected by the humanitarian crisis.

And in 2019, Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat alleged that modern slavery had been restored by the Houthis in Yemen, based on ‘local reports’.