Hodeida, Yemen - Yemen's Houthi rebels on Friday threatened to escalate attacks on Red Sea shipping after overnight strikes by the US and Britain killed 16 people, according to local media.

The toll reported by the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV would constitute one of the deadliest strikes since the US and Britain launched their campaign to counter disruption of the trade route in January.

The Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November, in solidarity with Palestinians who are being killed en masse by Israel in Gaza.

The US Central Command said 13 Houthi sites were targeted in a bid to degrade their ability to attack shipping.

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"The American-British aggression will not prevent us from continuing our military operations," Houthi official Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti said on X, vowing to "meet escalation with escalation".

AFP journalists heard loud explosions in the capital Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida overnight from Thursday to Friday.

Strikes also targeted telecoms infrastructure in the town of Taez, Al-Masirah reported.

Citing health authorities, the TV station said 16 people were killed and more than 35 were wounded in Hodeida alone, without specifying if they were civilians or militants.

Al-Masirah also broadcast a video appearing to show bloodied men wounded in a strike on a building housing a radio station in Hodeida. The channel showed victims receiving treatment at a hospital.

A hospital employee in Hodeida said "many" militants were among those killed and wounded in the attack, but was unable to give exact figures.

The overnight strikes were "necessary to protect our forces, ensure freedom of navigation, and make international waters safer and more secure," CENTCOM said in a statement.

Since January, the US and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the rebels' harassment of shipping, but the violent reprisals have done little to deter the movement, which has vowed to target US and British vessels as well as all ships heading to Israeli ports.