American forces carried out another airstrike on a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen early Saturday, U.S. officials confirmed.
US Central Command reported that the destroyer USS Carney carried out an attack on a Houthi radar site using Tomahawk missiles at 3:45 a.m. local time on Saturday. No further details were released, although Associated Press journalists heard a loud explosion in Sanaa, Yemen's capital.
The airstrike came just a day after the US and Britain launched strikes on dozens of targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen in response to the Iran-backed rebel group's ongoing attack on shipping in the Red Sea.
Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday's attacks used more than 150 precision-guided munitions to hit nearly 30 locations. According to CENTCOM, the attacks targeted “command and control nodes, ammunition depots, launch systems, production facilities and air defense radar systems.”
A view from the U.S. Naval Fleet as the U.S. and Britain conducted airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on January 12, 2024. US Central Command/Anadolu via Getty Images
A Houthi military spokesman said at least five people were killed and six injured in Friday's attacks.
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Despite the airstrikes, the Houthi movement's Supreme Political Council vowed on Friday to continue targeting merchant ships in the Red Sea. Thousands of protesters gathered in Sanaa on Friday, burning US flags and chanting: “God is great, death to America, death to Israel.”
President Biden suggested to reporters on Friday that if the Houthis hit back, the U.S. would retaliate.
“We will be careful to respond to the Houthis as they, along with our allies, continue this outrageous behavior,” Biden said during a small business tour in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
In a joint statement on Friday, the United States, Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea said the attacks were in response to “ongoing illegal, dangerous and destabilizing Houthi attacks.” against ships, including merchant shipping, transiting the Red Sea.”
According to CENTCOM, there have been at least 28 attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen since November 19. The attacks have prompted several major shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal and instead sail around Africa.
On January 9, the Houthi rebels launched their largest such attack to date. A total of 18 drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship missile were successfully shot down by US and British forces patrolling the Red Sea , without injuries or damage.
The White House last month accused Tehran of being “deeply involved” in Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, a claim that Iran's deputy foreign minister rejected.
However, the US government confirmed that Iranian forces directly seized an oil tanker carrying US-sanctioned crude off the coast of Oman on Thursday. The same ship was seized by US authorities last year.
The Biden administration has focused on preventing the Israel-Hamas conflict from escalating into a larger regional war in the Middle East, but since the war began, Iranian-backed proxies have launched attacks both in the Red Sea and against U.S. forces in the Iraq and Syria started in Iraq.
There have been at least 130 attacks by Iran-backed militias on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since October 17, including at least three since Monday.
—Eleanor Watson, Jordan Freiman, Tucker Reals and Charlie D'Agata contributed to this report.
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