(Reuters) – The Biden administration was expected to announce plans to relist Houthi rebels as specially designated global terrorists, a U.S. official told Reuters.
The U.S. military has carried out a series of strikes in Yemen against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country in response to attacks by the rebel group that have disrupted Red Sea shipping.
The Iran-allied Houthi militia has threatened to expand its attacks to include U.S. ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday called Yemen’s Houthi forces a “terrorist” group, after American and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen overnight.
The Houthi militia movement has threatened a “strong and effective response”.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; additional reporting by Jasper Ward and Dan Whitcomb)
