The US and UK have begun a series of coordinated air and sea strikes against at least 36 targets in 13 Yemeni areas, the US Central Command declared on Saturday.
The coordinated action was carried out by Tomahawk missiles launched from US Navy ships and F/A-18 fighter-bombers launched from the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower. The US Central Command reported that the strike targeted “multiple underground storage facilities, command and control, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters.”
“These strikes are intended to degrade Houthi capabilities used to continue their reckless and unlawful attacks on US and UK ships as well as international commercial shipping,” the US Central Command stated.
Earlier on Saturday, the US struck six locations in Yemen, targeting Houthi cruise missiles set to be launched at ships in the Red Sea, US Central Command posted on X (formerly Twitter).
In retaliation, the Houthis plan to “meet escalation with escalation,” according to Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a top political figure and spokesman. “Our military operations against the Zionist entity will continue until the aggression against Gaza stops, no matter what sacrifices it costs us,” he said in a blog post.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been assaulting regional shipping in solidarity with Palestinians since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October of last year. The Houthis initially targeted mainly Israeli-affiliated vessels before expanding to attack US and UK-owned ships once the alliance initiated strikes on Yemen.
Saturday’s assault came one day after airstrikes on Iraq and Syria. Washington claimed it had targeted members of the Islamic Resistance movement and other “Iranian-backed” militias in reaction to a drone strike that killed three US soldiers at a Jordanian military station last weekend.
