The U.S. has carried out another airstrike targeting a Houthi missile facility in Yemen, according to two U.S. officials.
The airstrike targeted a site that housed anti-ship missile cruise missiles being used in the Houthis attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, said one of the officials..
On Thursday night, the U.S. and United Kingdom used Tomahawk missiles and fighter aircraft to strike at nearly 30 Houthi locations associated with the Houthi drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping.
The bulk carrier Gibraltar Eagle is seen off Kristiansand, Norway, June 29, 2023. Houthi rebels fired a missile striking the U.S.-owned ship, Jan. 15, 2024, just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden.
AP, File
The U.S. carried out a second night of retaliatory strikes on Friday night following a Houthi missile attack on a commercial that failed after the missile landed in the ocean.
News of the new airstrike was first reported by Reuters.
The airstrikes follows two days of continued Houthi attacks on commercial ships off the Red Sea bringing to more than 30 the number of Houthi drone and missile attacks there and in the Gulf of Aden since mid-November.
On Monday M/V Gibraltar Eagle. a U.S.-owned and operated container ship sailing in the Gulf of Aden was struck with an anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Central Command. There were no injuries and there was no significant damage to the vessel which continued on its voyage.
Yemeni protestors loyal to the Houthi movement lift their rifles as they participate in a protest held against Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and threats of the U.S. and UK amid U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s warning of a military response to rebel attacks in the Red Sea on Jan. 11, 2024 in Sanaa, Yemen.
Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trading Operations, which is run by the Royal Navy and provides updates on maritime security in the region reported that a vessel had been “hit above the water line, there are no fires and no casualties” and the ship continued sailing toward its destination.
The Houthis also claimed in a statement that they had targeted another commercial ship claiming their missiles had struck the ship.
“The targeting operation came after the ship’s crew rejected warning calls, including fiery warning messages,” said the statement..
On Tuesday CENTCOM disclosed that two U.S. Navy SEALs who went missing during a nighttime ship boarding in the Gulf of Aden were part of an operation that seized components for Iranian-made ballistic and cruise missiles that have been used in the Houthi attacks on shipping.
The search for the missing SEALs is continuing.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Tomahawk missiles were not used in the most recent U.S. strike.
