This Jan 12, 2024 satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of destroyed shelters at Hudaydah aiirfield in Yemen. Yemen’s Houthi rebels have vowed retaliation for American and British strikes against them. (MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES VIA AP)

SANAA/WASHINGTON/CAIRO – US and British warplanes launched new airstrikes on Houthi rebel sites in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Saturday before dawn, residents and the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The Houthi television station said the airstrikes hit the northern part of the capital, without providing further details.

According to residents, the explosions were very powerful, shaking the houses.

The fresh air raids came in less than 24 hours of similar massive airstrikes that targeted the Houthi training camps and arms depots in Sanaa and other northern cities, and the Houthi officials said they killed five people and injured six others.

READ MORE: Houthis vow retaliation as US, UK airstrikes kill 5 in Yemen

Launched Friday night US Eastern Time, the strikes were much smaller in scale compared to those launched Thursday by the United States and Britain, CNN reported on Friday citing anonymous US officials.

The Houthi Supreme Political Council said on Friday that "US-British interests in the region have become legitimate targets" for the Houthi fighters

The US official said that the additional strikes were carried out unilaterally by the US military.

Thursday's strikes were believed to have degraded the Houthis' capabilities to attack vessels in the Red Sea, Director of the Joint Staff Douglas Sims told a press briefing held by the Defense Department on Friday.

Sims expects possible retaliation from the Houthis after Thursday's strikes but emphasizes preparedness. "We're ready for any response," he said.

Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder told reporters during the briefing that Thursday's strikes hit more than 60 targets in 28 locations.

The Houthi Supreme Political Council said on Friday that "US-British interests in the region have become legitimate targets" for the Houthi fighters.

The Houthi council also vowed to launch retaliatory attacks very soon.

The Houthis have escalated their attacks in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023, demanding an end to Israeli attacks and the siege against the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, countries in the Middle East expressed grave concern about the security situation in the Red Sea and called for restraint from all parties after overnight strikes by the United States and its allies in Yemen, in retaliation for attacks on vessels by the Iran-backed militia in the key waterway.

In a sternly worded statement on Friday, Houthi military spokesman General Yahya Sarea said that 73 raids targeted key areas, including the Yemeni capital Sanaa, as well as the provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah, and Saada.

Five people were killed and six others injured in the attack, said Sarea, stressing that the "American-British aggression will not go unanswered and unpunished".

In a defiant response on Friday, the Supreme Political Council, Houthi's top ruling body, declared that "all American and British interests have become legitimate targets."

Sarea reiterated the group's unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, emphasizing their commitment to preventing Israeli ships from navigating in the Arabian and Red Seas.

Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden confirmed that the US and its allies have conducted targeted strikes against sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

ALSO READ: Yemen's Houthis fire missiles at US navy vessel in Red Sea

They were launched together with Britain and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, Biden said in a statement, adding they were "in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea".

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, former president of the Revolutionary Committee, arrives at a protest against the United States-led airstrikes on Jan 12, 2024, in Sanaa, Yemen. (PHOTO / AP)

The strikes came after the UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to condemn the attacks by the Houthi militia on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, an important international trade route for goods and energy.

The internationally recognized government of Yemen on Friday blamed the Houthi rebel group for "dragging the country into confrontation arena."

Saudi Arabia is following with great concern the military operations in the Red Sea region and the airstrikes that a number of sites in Yemen have been subjected to.

Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia

In a press statement released by the state-run Saba news agency, it said the strikes on Houthi-controlled Yemeni areas were a response to the rebel group's continued actions of threats to navigation safety in the Red Sea.

Strongly condemning Houthi's recent military operations in international waters, the Yemeni government said the group "misleadingly linking it (its moves) to support for Palestinians".

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Friday strongly condemned the military attacks by the United States and Britain on several Yemeni cities.

Kanaani said the attacks were an "arbitrary action and clear violations of Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and were carried out in line with the full support of the United States and Britain for Israel's aggression against Palestinians and Gaza.

"Saudi Arabia is following with great concern the military operations in the Red Sea region and the airstrikes that a number of sites in Yemen have been subjected to," the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement posted on social media X account on Friday.

The kingdom stressed the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region, where the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea should be guaranteed to serve the interests of the world. It called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid escalating the situation.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Friday said the airstrikes are "an aggression" against Yemeni sovereignty. The ministry said it believed that "expanding the attack (in the region) on targets does not represent a solution to the problem, but rather will lead to expanding the scope of the war”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday that the United States and Britain launched a disproportionate attack, reflecting "eagerness for turning the Red Sea into a bloodbath”.

Iranian demonstrators burn representations of British and US flags during a protest against the US and British strikes against Houthis in Yemen, in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Jan 12, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

In a strongly-worded statement Friday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the attack poses a threat to the peace and stability in the Red Sea region and its maritime activities.

The attacks were a "desperate attempt" to divert global public opinion from the Israeli military action in Gaza, it added.

READ MORE: UN Security Council demands Houthis stop Red Sea attacks

For several weeks, the Houthi group has intensified military operations in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, targeting commercial ships "in connecting with Israel" with armed boats, drones, and sea missiles, in response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The Houthis have controlled the capital city of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen since ousting the internationally recognized government in 2014. The conflict has drawn in a Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of the government.