Washington DC, Feb. 4 -- The United States and Britain Saturday carried out joint air raids in Yemen as a response to repeated attacks on shipping by Iran-backed Houthi rebels that have disrupted global trade.

The joint air raids in Yemen come a day after a wave of unilateral US strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria that were carried out in response to the killing of three US soldiers in Jordan on Jan 28.

"These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Huthis use to threaten global trade, and the lives of innocent mariners," the statement said.

The assault "targeted sites associated with the Huthis' deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defens...