US, British warplanes strike Yemen's Hodeidah airport

Warplanes of the United States and Britain launched two airstrikes on Hodeidah International Airport in western Yemen on Wednesday, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The airport and the port city at large have been under Houthi control since the Houthis reached a truce agreement with the internationally recognized Yemeni government in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2018.

The US-British coalition has not yet commented on the alleged strikes.

This came hours after the Houthi group launched missile attacks against Barbados-flagged True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden, killing at least two sailors, claiming it to be a US-owned vessel, according to sources at the Yemeni Coast Guard in the southern port city of Aden.

The ship was damaged and caught on fire following the attacks, said the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.

The crew fled the ship using lifeboats as the US-British naval forces stationed in the Red Sea rushed to the scene to assist, said the UKMTO.

The Houthi group has launched a series of missile attacks against commercial vessels, particularly those with suspected links to Israel, in the international shipping lane in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November last year, in what the group said was an act of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

In response, the US and Britain launched attacks on Houthi targets starting in mid-January to deter the group. However, the Houthis have escalated their strikes by targeting more commercial vessels as well as US and British Navy ships.

The Houthi group has maintained control over significant portions of northern Yemen since the onset of the Yemeni civil war in late 2014.