Air strikes attributed to US and British forces on ports and cities in western Yemen on Monday killed at least 11 people and wounded 14 others, a spokesman for the country’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, said in Reuters news agency.

Since mid-January, the US and British armed forces have repeatedly launched bombardments against positions and weapons systems of Yemen’s Houthi rebels in order to prevent their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

According to Al Masirah, a television network close to the Houthis, at least 17 airstrikes were carried out yesterday in areas controlled by the Ansar Allah (“Supporters of God”) movement, better known by the surname of its leaders’ family, including shelling of the country’s main port in the city of Hodaida, and in that of the city of Ras Isa.

The deadly shelling comes days after the first sailor deaths from a Houthi missile strike on a merchant ship and the first shipwreck of a merchant ship as a result of their attacks.

They are also recorded on the first day of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and prayer for Muslims.

Iran-backed Yemeni rebels have been targeting ships they say are linked to Israel and its allies, notably the US and Britain, since mid-November in a show of support for Palestinians in the bombed Gaza Strip. and has been besieged by the Israeli army since October 7.

The actions of the Houthis, who control almost all of northern Yemen, have forced major shipping companies to suspend their ships in the strategically important region, which before the war handled 12% to 15% of world trade.

Despite the formation by the US of a naval coalition to “protect” international shipping in December, and despite US-British bombing of areas they control since January, the Houthis have not stopped escalating their attacks.

At least three crew members of the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier True Confidence were killed when a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) hit the vessel on Wednesday 6 March. A few days earlier, on Sunday 18 February, another cargo ship, the Rubymar, sank due to a rebel strike.