This image provided by the US Navy shows an aircraft launching from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during flight operations in the Red Sea, Jan 22, 2024. (PHOTO / US NAVY VIA AP)

WASHINGTON/SANAA - The coalition forces of the United States and Britain launched new strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, the US Central Command said.

The latest strikes, carried out at about 11:59 pm Sanaa time (2059 GMT), were aimed at 8 targets in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, the command said on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands provided support for the strikes.

"The targets included missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities," it said.

Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discussed Houthi attacks against merchant and naval vessels transiting the Red Sea over the phone, according to a readout of the White House

Acting unilaterally or in concert with its allies and partners, the US military has launched eight rounds of strikes against Houthi targets since Jan 12.

READ MORE: Yemeni govt warns Houthis against escalation in Red Sea

These moves were intended to degrade the Houthis' capability to continue their attacks on commercial and naval vessels sailing in the Red Sea, Bab-Al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, the command said.

The United States has named the strikes "Operation Poseidon Archer", CNN reported earlier, suggesting that they might become "more organized" and last for a longer period of time.

Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discussed Houthi attacks against merchant and naval vessels transiting the Red Sea over the phone, according to a readout of the White House.

"They reiterated their commitment to freedom of navigation, international commerce, and defending mariners from illegal and unjustifiable attacks," it said.  

Houthis strike US military cargo ship 

Yemen's Houthi group on Monday said it has carried out a strike on an American military cargo ship, OCEAN JAZZ, in the Gulf of Aden, claiming to have used sea-based missiles.

In a statement broadcast by the group's al-Masirah TV, its military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group "affirms that retaliation against American and British attacks is inevitable, and any new aggression will not go unpunished".

READ MORE: Yemen's Houthis claim new missile attack on US ship

The Houthis reaffirmed that they would keep "imposing a blockade on Israel-linked ships, preventing them from transiting the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until a ceasefire in Gaza is achieved with the siege (on it) lifted," according to the statement.

In this image provided by the UK Ministry of Defence, RAF Armourers (Weapon Technicians) prepare a Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 for air strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen, in RAF Akrotiri, Jan 21, 2024. (PHOTO / MINISTRY OF DEFENCE VIA AP)

"We will continue to take all defensive and offensive procedures within the right to defend Yemen (Houthis) and in support of Palestine," Sarea said, vowing retaliation for "any American or British aggression against the group".

The US forces have yet to respond to the alleged attack, nor did the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations receive new reports of such attack from shipping lines.

This is roughly the fourth US ship that has been attacked by the Houthi forces in nearly two weeks since Jan 9, amid a remarkable escalation between the Houthis and the US-led coalition in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

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The United States last Wednesday re-designated the Houthi group, also known as Ansarallah, as a "global terrorist organization", according to two statements issued by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The Houthi forces have controlled much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, since ousting the internationally recognized Yemeni government in 2014.