Illustrative image. (The United States Central Command)
The United States military conducted a strike late on January 12 against a radar site of the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen.
“This strike was conducted by the USS Carney (DDG 64) using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on January 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels,” the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement posted on X, previously known as Twitter.
Since November 19, Iranian-backed Houthis have attempted to attack and harass vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden 28 times, the command added.
“These strikes have no association with and are separate from Operation Prosperity Guardian, a defensive coalition of over 20 countries operating in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden,” said CENTCOM.
Yemen media confirmed that Al-Dailami Air Base near the Houthi-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa, was hit. No casualties were reported however.
The U.S. and the United Kingdom, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, conducted the first wave against the Houthis on January 12 hitting 28 locations and destroying more than 60 targets. Five Houthi fighters were killed and six others were wounded.
The Biden administration said that the strikes were “defensive”, and were intended to erode the Houthis’ ability to strike vessels in the Red Sea, which is one of the world’s most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.
Still, the Houthis fired at least one anti-ship ballistic missile toward a commercial vessel in the Arab Sea following the U.S. and UK strikes.
The Houthis began attacking commercial ships linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports in response to the war on the Gaza Strip, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 23,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.
In a statement released after the first wave of strikes, the Houthis’ spokesman, Bridge General Yahya Saree, vowed that attacks on Israel-affiliated ships will continue and said that the strikes by the U.S. and the UK would “not go unanswered or unpunished.”
