The United States destroyed an anti-ship cruise missile belonging to Yemen-based and Iran backed Houthi group “in self-defense” on Sunday at around 4:00 am Yemen time, the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) has informed. It also said that the cruise missile in the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region. USCENTCOM asserted that this action will protect commercial ships in the region.
The US with the support from allies launched its first attack on the Houthi group on 11 January 2024 in an attempt “to disrupt and degrade the capabilities the Houthis use to threaten global trades and lives of international mariners in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”
The rebel group, in retaliation of Israel’s strikes on Palestine, has unleased several attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.
Earlier on Saturday at around 11:30 (Yemen time), the US alongside UK Armed Forces and with the support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand conducted strikes against 36 Houthi targets at 13 locations in Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen, USCENTCOM informed in another post on X. These Iranian-backed Houthi targets included multiple underground storage facilities, command and control, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters, it added.
At approximately 7:20 pm on Saturday, USCENTCOM also conducted strikes against six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea. Earlier on 2nd February, the US had carried out three strikes.
Meanwhile, the US has also began strikes against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups in Syria and Iran. The US claimed to have struck more than 85 targets on 2nd February 2024. “The facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” USCENTCOM stated.
On Saturday, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, US CENTCOM Commander asserted that the US “will continue to take action, do whatever is necessary to protect our people, and hold those responsible who threaten their safety”.
