Illustrative image. (The Houthis’ Military Media)
The Houthis (Ansar Allah) announced on March 16 that they launched two attacks against an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy within the last 24 hours in response to recent strikes on Yemen.
Initially, the Iran-backed group said that 18 missiles and a drone were launched at the “aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships” in the Red Sea. Just a few hours later, a second attack was announced by the group.
Brigadier General Yahya Sarea, a military spokesman for the group, said in a statement that the attacks on the carrier strike group were “in retaliation to the continued American aggression against our country.”
U.S. officials told news agencies that the Houthis did fire drones and at least one missile in the first claimed attack.
Between March 15 and 16, the Houthis fired 11 drones and at least one missile within over 12 hours, the unnamed officials said, adding that ten of the drones were intercepted by U.S. Air Force fighter jets and one was intercepted by a Navy F/A-18 fighter jet.
The missile fell into the water far from the ship, and nothing came close to hitting either the carrier or the warships in its strike group, according to the officials.
Dozens of strikes hit Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on March 15 upon orders from President Donald Trump, who said that the large-scale attack was a response to the group’s attacks on shipping.
The strikes killed 53 people and left some 98 others wounded. U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said that “multiple” leaders of the Houthis were killed. Meanwhile, the Houthi health ministry claimed women and children were among the casualties.
The U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the operations of American forces in the Middle East, described the large-scale attack as the start of a large-scale operation targeting the Houthis across Yemen.
More strikes hit Houthi-controlled areas over the night of March 16 and 17. Yemeni media said that the strikes hit a cotton ginning factory in the western province of al-Hodeida as well as the command cabin of the Galaxy Leader, an Israel-linked ship that was seized by the group in November 2023. Other strikes hit a government complex in the northern province of Jawf.
The Houthis have already vowed to “meet escalation with escalation,” leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi calling on Yemenis to march on March 17 in defiance of the U.S.
Hebrew media reported that the Israeli Air Force was on heightened alert for potential missile and drone attacks by the Houthis.
The recent developments suggest that a fully-flagged confrontation could soon break out between the Houthis and the U.S. in Yemen.
While Secretary of State Marco Rubio ruled out the possibility of ground raids against the Houthis on March 16, the failure of the aerial campaign could push the Trump administration to approve such measures. Israel could also join the fight.
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