The Iran-backed Houthis launched another attack on commercial shipping on Tuesday, just hours after the U.S. preemptively fired ready-to-launch missiles in Yemen, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
U.S. Central Command said no injuries were reported from the merchant ship.
Tuesday's statement said the U.S. fired four anti-ship missiles that posed an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the Red Sea.
But in the afternoon, the Houthis hit another merchant ship in the Red Sea, a sign that the group is not stopping its attacks on shipping despite a series of U.S. strikes. The Houthis have said they will attack ships linked to Israel and its allies. But U.S. officials said many of the ships attacked had no connection to Israel.
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“We have seen several additional, smaller retaliatory strikes by the Houthis in recent days, much smaller than what we have seen before, and none of them have been effective,” John Kirby, National Security Council strategic communications coordinator, said on Tuesday.
Last week, the United States and United Kingdom, with support from other nations, attacked nearly 30 sites, targeting “radar systems, air defense systems, and storage and launch sites for one-way strikes of unmanned aerial systems, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles,” according to a. Statement from US Central Command.
The U.S. commercial cargo ship Gibraltar Eagle is seen in an archive photo provided to CBS News.
Kirby said he thought it was too early to say that the ongoing Houthi attacks indicate that coalition attacks were having no effect.
“We believe we had a good effect with these attacks in that they disrupted and impaired their ability to conduct offensive military operations,” Kirby said.
The Biden administration has stressed it does not want Israel's war with Hamas to escalate into a larger regional conflict. However, the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, coupled with ongoing attacks by Iranian-backed militias on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, show that instability in the Middle East is already extending beyond Israel.
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