Central Command (CENTCOM) forces launched strikes on 15 Houthi targets around 5:00 p.m. The targets include “Houth offensive military capabilities,” according to a statement from the command, which is responsible for protecting US interests in the Middle East.
US officials previously told The Associated Press that US warplanes and warships had bombed Houthi strongholds in about five countries.
Houthi media said the strikes hit Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Hodeidah airport, the southern city of Dhamar and the southeastern province of al-Bayda – the latter of which has several military border points. .
Houthi media also blamed US and British forces for the attacks, but the UK said it was not involved. Houthi rebels have launched repeated attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea near Yemen since last November. These air and sea attacks, which they say are a form of solidarity with the Palestinians in Israel’s war against Hamas, have been answered by US strikes.
Houthi activity has disrupted global trade, with companies forced to divert their ships from the region.
The Houthis claimed earlier this week to have shot down another US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen, with the US military admitting it had lost one drone.
The militia group also claimed responsibility for an attack targeting three American ships in the Red Sea. US officials say navy destroyers intercepted two Houthi drones and more than half a dozen missiles and that the ships suffered no damage, according to the AP.
The US strikes in Yemen also come against a backdrop of growing regional escalation following Iran’s major missile attack on Israel this week in response to an intensified Israeli airstrikes campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah supported by Tehran.
