Why are Britain and US attacking Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels?

The US and the UK have carried out military strikes with aircraft, ships and missiles against targets linked to Houthis in Yemen,

The attacks came after the Houthis launched their largest attack on Red Sea shipping, one of 27 such assaults since 19 November.

Officials said that 21 missiles and drones were fired at warships and commercial vessels near the Bab al-Mandab Strait earlier this week, the southern bottleneck of the Red Sea, with US and UK warships blowing them out of the sky.

Here is what we know so far:

Overnight alongside US vessels repelled the largest and most complex attack by Houthis in the Red Sea to date. Nearly 15% of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Attacks to commercial shipping jeopardise the movement of goods worldwide.

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ)