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US Strikes Hit Houthi Areas In Yemen

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

SANAA/CAIRO (Worthy News) – The United States military said Sunday they carried out five “self-defense strikes” in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that the attacks targeted “three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned surface vessel.”

Military officials said the strikes were aimed at preventing new attacks from Iran-backed Houthis, who launched several assaults on merchant shipping since Israel’s war against Hamas began.

The Houthis have threatened to continue their attacks in the Red Sea area as long as Israel continues its military operations against Hamas in Gaza.

They fired hundreds of attack drones and anti-ship missiles at ships after Hamas, seen by the Israeli government as an Iran-backed terrorist group, killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped some 250 others in Israel on October 7.

A U.S.-led coalition is trying to prevent more attacks, but CENTCOM suggested that the Houthis and their allies have become more sophisticated in the technology and weapons they use.

“This is the first observed Houthi employment of a [unmanned underwater vessel] UUV since attacks began on October 23,” CENTCOM explained about the circumstances surrounding the U.S. strikes.

ANTI-SHIP MISSILES

“CENTCOM identified the anti-ship cruise missiles, unmanned underwater vessel, and the unmanned surface vessel in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. [We] determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” it added.

“These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels,” CENTCOM stressed.

It was not immediately clear whether there were causalities due to the U.S. strikes.

However, they added to tensions in the Middle East as the Israel-Hamas war rapidly escalated into a broader armed conflict.

Saturday’s U.S. strikes came shortly after American forces on January 28 seized a ship originating in Iran, loaded with missiles and drones, and destined for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Worthy News learned.

The American mission appeared similar to another January operation in which two Navy SEALs died at sea when boarding an Iranian ship in the Arabian Sea, U.S. officials said. That ship was reportedly also destined for Yemen.

NO CASUALTIES

There were no American casualties reported in the January 28 operation when a Coast Guard fast-response cutter assigned to U.S. naval forces identified the Iranian vessel in the Red Sea, and troops quickly boarded it, CENTCOM said

U.S. military officials added that they discovered over 200 packages filled with ballistic missile components, explosives, sea and land drones, communications and network material, anti-tank guided missile launcher assemblies, as well as other weapons and equipment.

“This is yet another example of Iran’s malign activity in the region,” General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the CENTCOM commander, said in a statement.

“Their continued supply of advanced conventional weapons to the Houthis is in direct violation of international law and continues to undermine the safety of international shipping and the free flow of commerce,” he added.

The U.S. last month began targeting Houthi missions in Yemen, in addition to regularly shooting down Houthi drones and anti-ship missiles fired toward the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and other strategic waterways in the region.

Yet, with the Houthis threatening to strike again, the U.S. and its allies were facing more security challenges in one of the world’s busiest shipping routes for trade.