News of War Staff Writer
U.S. Strikes Target Houthi Missile Sites in Yemen Amid Rising Maritime Tensions
The U.S. military reported on Wednesday that it had conducted operations against 14 Houthi missiles in Yemen, poised for launch, marking the fourth day of U.S. interventions in the region in under a week.
U.S. Central Command, in a statement released on social media platform X, indicated that these Houthi missiles posed an immediate danger to both merchant ships and U.S. Navy vessels operating in the vicinity.
"These missiles on launch rails ... could have been fired at any moment, leading U.S. forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves," the statement read.
Further, the statement emphasised, "These strikes, along with other actions we have taken, will impair the Houthi’s capabilities to persist with their irresponsible assaults on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden."
Recent assaults by the Iran-aligned Houthi militia on shipping in this area, commencing in November, have disrupted trade routes between Asia and Europe and raised concerns among major international powers. The objective of the U.S. strikes is to reduce the Houthis' ability to launch attacks in the Red Sea.
However, the Houthis, who hold sway over much of Yemen, have declared their actions are in support of the Palestinians in Gaza and have threatened to escalate their attacks.
Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command reported that a drone, launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, had struck the M/V Genco Picardy, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-operated bulk carrier, in the Gulf of Aden. The attack caused some damage, but no casualties were reported, according to an additional statement on X.
Recently, the United States reinstated the Yemen-based Houthi rebels on its list of terrorist groups, following the militia's claim of another attack this week on a U.S.-operated vessel in the Red Sea region.