By The United States military announced on Tuesday that its forces had “conducted multiple precision strikes” targeting Houthi positions in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
According to a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) news release, the targets were facilities used by the Iran-backed rebels to launch attacks on American warships and commercial vessels. The strikes began on Monday and continued into Tuesday. A video shared by CENTCOM showed aircraft taking off and rockets being launched from a naval vessel.
The targets included a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon production and storage facilities. The facilities held missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles used in Houthi operations, CENTCOM said. U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force aircraft also destroyed a Houthi coastal radar site and seven cruise missiles and unmanned aerial drones, CENTCOM added. One witness in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa reported several strikes in different locations. Another reported raids on Sanaa on the Defense Ministry and having heard a powerful explosion.
American forces target Houthi-backed rebel facilities in Yemen. The Iranian-backed group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on commercial shipping in the Middle East region. ABC News’ Britt Clennett reports from Tel Aviv.
The command said there were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment.
The strikes are a part of CENTCOM’s effort to degrade Iran-backed Houthi efforts to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam called the strikes “an American aggression” and “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel.”
The Navy destroyer Gravely launches Tomahawk missiles on January 12, 2024, toward Iran-backed Houthi rebel positions in Yemen.
The Yemeni military group said earlier on Tuesday that they had fired two missiles at Israel, hours after the Israeli military said it had intercepted a projectile launched from the country. Earlier in December, a rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv, leaving over a dozen people injured by shattered glass, according to the Israeli military. That came after days of Israeli airstrikes targeting Houthi forces.
The Houthis control much of war-torn Yemen and have been firing missiles and drones at Israel, and at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
A smoke cloud billows after an airstrike on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital Sanaa on December 31, 2024.
