This week’s RAF attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen was the first to be approved by the Labour government. It joined a major US military operation that started in March and has involved 45 days of airstrikes. Operation Rough Rider is a demonstration by the Trump administration that it will prosecute a vigorous war that is more intense than under Joe Biden, and has, according to the US, already seen more than 1,000 targets hit.
The RAF operation reportedly targeted a plant manufacturing armed drones used in Houthi attacks on shipping transiting the Red Sea, and demonstrated that Keir Starmer has decided to be Donald Trump’s closest military ally.
