SANAA, Yemen

The Yemeni Houthi group announced Friday that US and British forces launched 73 strikes on Yemen, killing five of its fighters.

In a statement, the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said "the American-British enemy, in the context of its support for the continuation of the Israeli crimes in Gaza, launched a brutal aggression against Yemen with 73 strikes."

Saree said the raids targeted "the capital Sanaa and the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah, and Saada."

These attacks led to the death of five Houthi fighters and the injury of six others, the spokesman added.

The US and UK carried out missile strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen Thursday night.

The strikes targeted multiple Houthi sites in Yemeni cities controlled by the Iranian-backed group and followed a string of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea on Israeli-bound vessels.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday he ordered the strikes "in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea."

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi