The U.S. military carried out strikes in Yemen on Tuesday against four Houthi rebel missiles that posed an “imminent threat” to commercial and military vessels, a U.S. official said.
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This is the third operation by the United States in less than a week against the Houthis, who are attacking ships off the coast of the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, a territory they say is under fire and besieged by Israel. supported by Washington.
“The United States conducted self-defense strikes against four Houthi ballistic missiles that posed an imminent threat to U.S. merchant vessels and naval vessels,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
These “four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles” are “ready for launch from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen,” the American military command in the Middle East (Centcom) said on X.
According to Centcom, the rebels again targeted a merchant ship on Tuesday.
Last week, American-British strikes targeted nearly 30 locations in Yemen with more than 150 munitions. U.S. forces also attacked radar, drone and missile infrastructure in an operation seen as a follow-up to previous attacks.
Last month, the United States created a multinational maritime force to protect shipping in the Red Sea, a key transit route that accounts for up to 12% of global trade.
American forces have intercepted missiles and drones fired from Yemen, where rebels control much of the territory in the war against the government.
American interests are also the target of attacks in Iraq and Syria, which Washington says are being carried out by armed groups linked to Iran.
The United States says it wants to avoid a regional conflagration related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, where more than 24,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombings and military operations, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers, or 1% of the population, according to the authorities of the Palestinian territory.
After the Palestinian movement's bloody attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which left around 1,140 people dead, according to an AFP count based on official data, Israel says it wants to destroy Hamas. Israeli