US carries out new strikes against Houthis in Yemen

The United States carried out new strikes against Houthi ballistic missiles in Yemen on Tuesday according to the US Central Command The US carried out strikes after Houthi launched an antiship ballistic missile from Houthicontrolled areas of Yemen into international shipping lanes in the Southern Red SeaThe strikes on Tuesday the third against Houthi since a USled air and naval barrage hit dozens of targets last week and destroyed four missiles that the US Central Command said posed an imminent threat to merchant vessels and Navy ships travelling through the Red Sea and nearby waters The New York Times reportedIn a post shared on X US Central Command stated US Conducts Strikes in Yemen as Houthi Attacks Against International Shipping Continue On Jan 16 at approximately 145 pm Sanaa time Iranianbacked Houthi militants launched an antiship ballistic missile from Houthicontrolled areas of Yemen into international shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea MV Zografia a Maltese flagged bulk carrier reported they were struck but seaworthy and were continuing their Red Sea transitNo injuries were reported Earlier in the day at approximately 415 am Sanaa time US Forces struck and destroyed four Houthi antiship ballistic missiles prepared to launch from Houthicontrolled areas of Yemen it addedMeanwhile John Kirby Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House said on Tuesday local time that the US will continue to defend against Houthi and counter them as appropriate if the group continues to keep carrying out attacks He made the remarks while addressing a press briefing on Tuesday local timeAsked about the damages caused by the two US strikes against Houthi Kirby said Id refer you to the Pentagon to speak to the battle damage assessment Selina Theyre really the right ones to go to for that And I dont know the final status of thatAs I said earlier even before we conducted these strikes we had every expectation that the Houthis would still maintain some capability and would probably retaliate in some form or fashion The strikes were designed to degrade and disrupt their military activity their ability to store launch and to guide these missiles to their targets as well as the drones that they have launched against these targetsHe stated that the Pentagon will provide the specifics of the battle damage assessment He stressed that Houthis have a choice to make about what they want to do with their capabilityWe believe that we had good effects But the specifics of the BDA battle damage assessment is really something for the Pentagon to speak to But at no time even that night did we say that all of the Houthis offensive capability was going to be eliminated by those strikes John Kirby saidAgain the Houthis have a choice to make We know they still have some capability They have a choice to make about what they do with that capability If they choose to keep conducting these attacks we will continue to defend against them and counter them as appropriate even as we did today hitting four ballistic missiles on launchers before they could be sent on their way he addedOn Friday the United States carried out fresh strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen according to a US official as reported by CNN These strikes followed a coordinated attack on approximately 30 Houthi locations the day beforeThe subsequent attacks that took place on Friday night local time according to the official targeted a radar site used by the Houthis and were notably more limited in natureAccording to Lt Gen Douglas Sims II Director of the Joint Staff the Houthis had fired at least one antiship ballistic missile towards a commercial vessel earlier on Friday CNN reportedTo prevent the Houthis from firing into international trade lanes in the Red Sea the US and UK attacked 28 different Houthi locations on Thursday as per CNNAustralia Bahrain the Netherlands Canada and Australia also supported the two countries The official stated that the United States launched its most recent strike on its own initiativeMeanwhile the US has vowed to take further military action if the Houthis continue to attack the commercial vessels in the Red Sea with drones and missilesWe will make sure we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behaviour along with our allies US President Joe Biden said Friday while in Pennsylvania as the attacks by Houthis have been escalating recently reported CNNToday at my direction US military forcestogether with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia Bahrain Canada and the Netherlandssuccessfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the worlds most vital waterways the US President said in a statement on ThursdayIn his statement Biden said that Houthis launched their largest attack to datedirectly targeting American ships on January 9These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Seaincluding the use of antiship ballistic missiles for the first time in history These attacks have endangered US personnel civilian mariners and our partners jeopardised trade and threatened freedom of navigation Biden saidThe Houthi rebels who are an Iranaligned group started the strikes in retaliation for Israels Gaza conflict The Houthis have said that they will not stop attacking until Israel ends the hostilities in GazaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever