Sanaa, Jul 13 (IANS): The US-British naval coalition launched three airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi-controlled Hodeidah airport, the media reported.

Residents described the explosions in the facility as powerful, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The coalition has made no comment on the strikes yet.

The airport has been shut off since the Houthi group seized control of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah along with several other northern cities in late 2014.

On Thursday, the US Central Command said on social media platform X that its forces destroyed five Houthi unmanned boats and three bomb-laden drones in the Red Sea.

The Houthi group began in November last year to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones targeting what they said were Israeli-linked ships transiting the Red Sea, to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday that his group had so far targeted "a total of 166 ships linked to Israel, the US, and Britain".

In response, the US-British naval coalition stationed in the waters has since January conducted air raids and missile strikes against Houthi military targets to deter the group, but this only led to an expansion of Houthi attacks to include US and British commercial vessels and naval ships.